


Darkness in the Neon Lights

by HyperRedFox



Category: Banana Bus Squad
Genre: Alternate Universe - Stripper/Exotic Dancer, Drug Addiction, Drug Use, M/M, Smut, Strippers & Strip Clubs, Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-26
Updated: 2019-03-15
Packaged: 2019-06-16 09:20:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 53
Words: 152,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15433902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HyperRedFox/pseuds/HyperRedFox
Summary: At a young age, Evan learned that the world was very cruel. Darkness destroyed his home, and swallowed his parents with it. With no way out, he was forced to leave, and was taken into a world decorated with neon lights. A world he would love so much, he would turn a blind eye to the darkness in the corners of it.For his friend's birthday, Jonathan and his friends went to a club, looking for some fun. It's here that he lays his eyes on a still too young Evan.Will this meeting turn into something more? Will they be able to have a better life together, or will the darkness hiding in the bright neon lights swallow them whole?*Disclaimer* I do not own anyone in this story. They are their own people





	1. Please Read

**I can not stress this warning enough!**

**This story will be much darker than any of my other stories, so if you are a long time reader, be prepared for some serious and dark shit in this story! If you are new to my stories... Hi, I'm HyperRedFox, but everyone calls me, Red... and be prepared for some serious and dark shit in this story!**

**This story will contain drug usage, alcoholism, death, suicide, rape, underage drinking (okay, maybe that one isn't dark), violence, child abuse, and sex trafficking!**

**I can not stress this warning enough! So please, if you are not comfortable reading about any of that, do not read this story!**

**If you chose to ignore this warning and read on, do not complain about it later.**

**Now, to the brave little Foxes that will read on, I hope you enjoy this story... You twisted monsters.  
I love all of ya!**

**Oh, and this is #BottomEvan. If you do not like that and you decide you're not going to read on because of that, go ahead. ******


	2. The Strom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ***Trigger Warning: Drug Usage and Violence (Child Abuse)***

"Evan," a sweet voice calls to me in the mix of the darkness around me. "Evan, honey, come here."

I start walking forward, looking for the source of the familiar, sweet voice, but struggle to see it. Suddenly, I see a bright light, that is almost blinding, even from a distance. The voice then calls my name again. It's coming from that light. Taking a deep breath, I start running into the light and I cover my eyes with my arm.

Warmth surrounds me as I run into the light, and I hear a loud ringing in my ears. I can no longer hear the voice.

I slowly pull my arms away from my eyes and try to look around. I'm in the middle of a green field. There are flowers and trees all around me, the sky is filled with clouds, floating through, creating pictures and shapes.

"I... I know this place," I say, walking forward. The ringing in my ears starts to die out, and it is replaced by the sweet sound of birds singing. "This is the park... I haven't been here in years..."

"Evan," I hear from the tree line. I look over and see a beautiful woman with long, black hair and she's wearing a long, white dress with pink roses on it.

Tears start to fill my eyes as I run to her. "Mom!"

When I get to her, I practically crash into her and hug her tightly. She pets me as I cry into her shoulder, not wanting to let her go. I suddenly feel someone put their hand on my shoulder, and when I look, I see a man with messy black hair, wearing a light blue button up shirt and black slacks.

I let go of my mom and turn around to hug him. "Dad!" He wraps his arms tightly around me, patting my back as he does so.

I smile as I hug the two most important people in my life, but we break our hug when we hear thunder coming. We look behind us and see that the darkness that I had just gotten out of is starting to come towards us, thunder and lightning coming from it. My heart drops, and I know that I need to get out of here, but I can't leave my parents.

Grabbing their hands, I turn away from the darkness and take off running, dragging them with me. They quickly catch onto what is happening and they start running beside me. We try running to where the entrance of the park is supposed to be, but it feels like we're just running in place.

Suddenly, something causes my dad to trip and he falls behind. My mom screams and runs over to help him, but the darkness is starting to drag him in. She grabs his arms and tries to pull him up, only for the darkness to grab her and pull her in too.

My heart starts to break as I watch them disappear from me. My body is frozen, and I just can't find the strength to move. The darkness starts coming closer to me, and I don't know what to do. I want to save them, but how can I fight this?

***  
My eyes shoot open as the bell rings, and I see everyone around me get out of their seats and start walking out of the classroom. I sigh before I put my stuff away and start walking towards the door, but am stopped by my teacher saying, "Evan; can you stay here for a second?"

I turn to her and walk over. "What did you need, Mrs. Minx?"

"Evan, I've noticed that your grades are starting to slip again."

"I know."

"Are things okay at home?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Evan, you do amazing with test and you always get your classwork done; however, your homework is really starting to drag your grade down."

"I know, and it's my fault. I've just gotten into this game, and I kind of forgot about my homework."

"Evan-"

"I'm sorry, I have to go. I'll make sure to get all of my homework done and get them to you as soon as I can."

Before she can say anything, I turn away and run out of the room. Shaking my head, I walk to my locker and quickly put my books away and walk out of the building. _I don't want anyone looking into my home life. She needs to stay out of this._

When I walk out of the school gates, I instantly look around, hoping to see that they remembered me today. Of course, I don't see anyone for me, so I hang my head and start walking home. Although I never mind the five mile walk home, I can't help but feel stupid for the first mile. I always get my hopes up that my parents will be there to pick me up, but always get let down.

As I walk home, I can't help but look around, seeing some kids playing in their front yards with their friends, siblings, and parents. This almost makes me want to cry, however, I suck it up. My dad hates it when I cry, and I don't want to get called a "whiny little bitch" today.

When I finally get home, I take a deep breath and prepare myself for any horror show that waits behind the closed door. Then again, there's almost nothing that shocks me anymore. Almost.

When I open the door, I'm instantly greeted with a sight I'm far too use to seeing. Some random guy sitting next to my dad on the couch. The man is holding a lighter to a silver spoon, while my dad is tightening a belt to his arm and is trying to find a good vain. Unfortunately, that's nothing new to me.

I then shut the door and start walking toward the hallway, only to stop when I see my mom in the armchair. She's passed out, needle in her hand, and her belt loosely around her arm; however, that isn't what stopped me. It was the fact that she has a black eye beginning to form, her cheek is red, and there are red marks on her arms. She already looks like a skeleton, I don't want to see her get worse. _I need to help her._

"Oh god," I say, dropping my bag and running over to her. "Mom?" I gently grab her shoulders and give her a little shake. "Mom? Are you okay?"

She opens one of her eyes and smiles. Her short black hair looks like some of it was ripped out, and her shorts are unbuttoned and her shirt is torn.

"Oh Evan," she says extremely slowly and with slurred words. "Get in the car, honey. It's time to go home."

"Evan," my dad yells as he takes out a new needle from a box in the middle of the room. "You know the rules! Go to your room until your mother and I tell you that you can come out!"

"Dad, what happened to mom?"

"Evan, go now!"

"The kid is just like that whore," the man says as he holds the spoon closer to my dad. "Doesn't know when to shut the fuck up."

This pisses me off quickly. My dad would never lay a hand on my mom, so that has to mean this bastard did. Then he has the fucking nerve to called her a fucking whore. I'm not the type to let that go. I don't care what my parents do, but I would never allow someone to talk that way about them.

Without wasting a second, I grab the needle by my mom and turn to the man, stabbing him in the arm with it. He screams in pain and drops the spoon before he rips the needle out of his arm and throws it to the ground. He then turns to me and jumps up, running at me and slamming me into the door so hard I feel the wind get knocked out of me. He then holds me up by my neck and begins to punch me in the chest, stomach, and face. I try to gasp for air, but nothing is going to my lungs. I can feel myself slowly dying, but then, by some miracle, he takes his hand off of me and I fall to the floor, gasping again and finally getting some air.

I look towards the man and see him being dragged back to the couch by my dad, though he is fighting to come back to me.

"Leave him to me," my dad yells, trying to hold the man back. "Just sit back down and start a new one!"

"Fuck that shit! The bitch was not worth that fucking much! If you want more, you better pay the fuck up or let me beat the shit out of the brat!"

"I'll get you the money! I'll get you the money, but he can't go to school with bruises, man!"

The man rips his arms away from my dad and he sits down. "Get the fucking money, or I'm fucking leaving."

"Alright, alright. Just let me deal with my son and I'll get it."

I then watch as my dad walks over and grabs me by my hair, before he starts to drag me down the hall. I kick and scream for him to stop, but he doesn't until we are by my room. He then grabs me by my neck and forces me up to my feet before slamming me into the wall.

"What the fuck is wrong with you," he yells as punches the wall next to my head.

"He- He was talking shit about mom," I say with a shaky voice. "He was calling her a whore."

"Because she fucked him for this fix! That's why he is calling her that! And thanks to you, that means nothing now! She might as well have fucked him just to fuck him!"

He then slams his hand into my neck, choking me for a second before pulling his hand back and making a fist. I gasp and duck as his fist comes back towards my face, causing him to punch the wall, which makes a new hole. Knowing how angry he is now, I quickly get up and run into my room, slamming the door close and locking it behind me.

I press my body against the door just as he starts to throw his body against it, trying to break it down. Tears try to build up in the corner of my eyes, but I quickly wipe them away, but he hears that.

"Are you fucking crying now?! Are you fucking kidding me?! You're supposed to be a fucking man! Don't you dare try to act tough one fucking minute and then cry like a little fucking bitch!"

He starts banging on the door, causing it to shake so violently that the walls it's connected to it start to shake as well. He continues to yell at me through the wall for about twenty minutes before he finally leaves. After a while, I fall to my knees and try to keep myself from crying. _I hate it when he gets like this._

I turn my head to the side and see that some of the pictures I had on the wall fell off again. Most of them were in the hallway, but broke after my dad or mom got mad, so I brought them in here. I reach over and start picking up the frames, stopping when I see one of them.

It's a picture of my parents and I when I was ten. Before our lives went to hell.

I stare at the picture and see my mom in all her true beauty. Clear, glowing skin, full, long hair, a beautiful smile, and bright eyes. Then I see my dad on the opposite side, and I feel my stomach flip. He use to have such a strong body, but now he looks like he a bag of bones.

We use to be such a happy family back then. Our home use to have so much life in it. I have so many happy memories of them... Then my dad's company went under.

Thousands of people lost their jobs, and many couldn't bounce back, my dad included. A lot of his friends ended up becoming so depressed from losing work that they took their own lives, which crashed him. Then, he met someone. This person changed him for the worse, and he introduced my dad to his new love. Heroine.

He started using it when he felt like he was at his lowest, which made my mom worry. She wanted to stay with him. She loved him and I more than anything, so she tried to help him. Then one day, she snapped, but not at him.

Her family, my grandparents and aunts and uncles, didn't want her to stay with him. They tried getting her to take me and leave him, but like I said, she wanted to stay with him. One day, they went too far though. They called the police on my dad when they thought he was home. My mom didn't tell them that she had sent him to rehab that week, so when the police got there, they pretty much attacked my mom. I was almost taken away. My mom stopped talking to everyone after that, and when my dad checked himself out of rehab and started up again, she joined him.

I've watched as this drug took away my parents. It destroyed their personalities and made them into completely different people. It torn apart my family, and has left me surrounded by darkness. I feel alone in my own home, and I'm tired.

Sighing, I put the pictures down on the drawer and I go over to my bed. I crawl into bed, knowing that I'm not going to be allowed out of this room until much later tonight, if I'm lucky, and so I decide the best thing I can do is close my eyes and try to go back to sleep.

***

When I open my eyes, I look around and see that I'm, yet again, surrounded by darkness. Darkness I had been running from for five long years. Tired, I fall to my knees and hang my head, ready for the darkness to swallow me like it did my parents. I wait for pain or a cold feeling, or something, but nothing happens. Confused, I look up and see the silhouettes of my parents in the darkness.

"Keep going," my mom tells me.

"Don't let this get to you," my dad then says. "We don't want you to end up like us. I don't want you to end up like me."

"How do I keep going though," I ask them. "All I ever see is this. What am I supposed to do." I then watch them as they grab the edge of the darkness and move it, revealing a path to the entrance to the park.

"It can't follow you if you leave," my mom tells me.

This causes me to shake my head. "No," I yell. "No, I don't want to leave you guys behind."

"We will be okay," she tells me. "But for you to get to a better place, you need to leave. Now please, my sweet baby boy, you have to leave."

"Get out while you can," my dad tells me. "Make a better life for yourself. And always remember, we love you."

***

When I open my eyes, I notice that the room is still very dark. I look towards the clock and I see that it's midnight.

_... I know what I have to do._

I slide out of bed and turn on my light before I slip out of my room to go grab my backpack, which is still in the living room. Once I get it, I hurry back to my room and shut and lock the door behind me. I then take everything out of it and grab my notebook and a pen. I sit back down on my bed and I quickly write out a note.

****_Dear mom and dad;_  
This might be the hardest thing I've ever had to do, but I have no choice. I've decided that I don't want to keep living like this. I want to have a bright future, but I can't see myself having that while I'm here. So, I'm sorry, but, I need to leave. I hope, maybe someday, I'll see you guys again. I'm going to miss you both so much. I love you both more than anything.  
Love,  
Evan 

Once I'm done writing, I rip the page out of the notebook and I put the notebook and the pen back in the bag. I then go around my room, looking for anything and everything that might be worth something. In the end, I find about twenty-five dollars, an old iPod, two flip phones, my current iPod, my iPhone, and a gold watch my grandpa gave me before my mom cut ties with him.

I put all of these things in the bag and put some clothes over those things and take one of the pictures I saved of my parents, before I zip up the bag. Then, I turn off the light and I make my way out of the room. I then walk back into the living room and I put the note on the table, right next to the box of needles my parents have.

Suddenly, I hear something coming down the hall, which causes me to drop my bag and hide it behind the couch. The moonlight comes in through the window, allowing me to see someone walking towards me, but I end up smiling when I see that it's my mom.

Once she sees me, she stops at the end of the hall and says, "Evan? What are you doing awake?" Her words are still a little slurred, but it isn't nearly as bad as when I found her earlier.

"I went to bed really early, so I needed to come out and get my bag to work on homework. What are you doing up?"

"Oh, okay. I just needed some water."

"Here," I say, walking towards the kitchen and getting her a bottle of water from the fridge. She thanks me and is about to turn away, when I stop her with a hug. At first, she's a bit shocked.

I haven't exactly hugged her in a few years, so seeing affection isn't something she's use to anymore. However, after a short while, she hugs me back.

"I love you, mom. Good night," is all I can tell her.

"I love you too, Evan. Good night."

I then watch as she turns away and walks back into her room. I wait for her to close the door before I sigh and walk back to the couch. I then grab my bag, put it over my shoulder, and walk out the front door.

_I don't know where exactly I'm going, but I'm sure it will be a lot better than here. I hope my parents find their way out of the darkness, and I hope to see them again. However, for now, I have no choice but to say goodbye._


	3. A Helping Hand

I sigh as I curl up in the corner under a overpass. Rain is pouring down hard, and thunder crashing as well as lightning lighting up the sky is making sleep come to me much harder than I would like. Not to mention how cold it is.

It's been a month and a half since I left home, and I've kind of been having a hard time getting by. I've been trying to find a job so I could save up money to buy things like a car or rent a apartment, but I've had no luck. The items that I took with me were already sold, and now I only have the clothes on my back and the picture of my parents and I before they started their addiction. I even sold the backpack I left with.

My eyes are heavy, and all I want to do is sleep and hope to wake up from this nightmarish life, but I'm shivering far too hard to allow myself to sleep. Lightning strikes across the sky, allowing me to see what's under the overpass, and, weirdly enough, I see a man starting to walk under. Seconds after the lightning vanishes, thunder roars out, and I see a light come on from where the man is. He points whatever he's holding towards me, blinding me for a second as he checks to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

Lightning strikes again, and I see the man is starting to walk closer to me, and I instantly back away, not knowing what this man will do to me. The last thing I want is to be attacked by some stranger. "I won't hurt you," I can barely hear the man yell over the rain.

Lightning strikes again, allowing me to see the man hold out his hand towards me, and it's then that I realize who it is. A man named Ryan. He's some weird guy that I met at the park I've been sleeping at. Well, weird is a bit harsh. He's a nice guy, always giving me a breakfast sandwich every morning he sees me when he's out for a run. It's just weird to me that he tries to talk to me too, always asking me why I'm not at home. The only thing we know about each other is our names and that we both like video games, but nothing else.

"It's okay, Evan," he shouts over the rain. "It's just me; I'm not going to hurt you! I just want to help you! Just, take my hand and come with me!"

"Go with you? We barely know each other! Why should I trust you?"

"Because I don't want you to get sick! It's almost winter, and if you get sick now, you could die! Just let me help you!" He starts to walk up to where I am, and I try to push myself away from him. However, it's no use; my back is already pressed against the top of the concrete above me.

He gets onto his knees in front of me and puts his cellphone down in front of him. Lightning strikes again, lighting up the space between us, and allowing me to see the corner on his face. "I know that you don't fully trust me, but I only want to help you."

"Why do you give a shit about what happens to me? Like I already said, we barely know each other."

"Because, a few years ago, I was in the same boat you're in. I was homeless at a young age. And I know that I would have killed for the chance to sleep on a couch when it started raining. So, I want to give you what I didn't get."

I blink and stare at him in shock. This answers so much. He was homeless, so he wanted to help someone that reminded him of himself... _This could seriously get me killed._

He holds out his hand towards me again, and this time, with a little hesitation, I take it. We slide down to the sidewalk and he starts leaning me to wherever he lives. We run in the rain for about two or three blocks until we come up to a big apartment complex, which I recognize very quickly. Its around the corner from the park I had been sleeping at.

Ryan leads me to a door on the first floor and rushes in, holding the door open for me. I walk in and look around the room, which was shocking big. There's a long black couch, a big flatscreen TV, a bar, a kitchen, and what really catches my eye is a pole in the middle of the big room. I blush as I eye it, and Ryan quickly notices.

"Yeah, that's for my roommate and myself."

"Wh-what?"

"We're kind of... well... We're strippers, and we use that to practice for work."

I give him a confused look. "I thought only girls could be strippers!"

He laughs and shakes his head. "No; anyone can be a stripper. Look, it's not that hard, and it's actually really fun."

He takes off his jacket and I watch him as he confidently walks up to the pole and starts to walk around it, taking it in one of his hands and leaning away from it as he moves. He then turn and jumps onto the pole, wrapping his legs and other hand around it, spinning around as he leans back, eyes shut and a smirk on his lips. When he opens his eyes, he pulls himself up the pole a little, putting his hands up towards the top, and he lets his legs relax. My jaw drops as I then watch him start to walk on air as he continues to spin around the pole.

"Oh my god, that's awesome! How are you doing that?!"

"Practice," he tells me before he pulls his legs up and twists his body around the pole. He wraps his legs around it and lets go of it, running his hands through his somewhat long hair. Slowly, he pulls his body up the pole, wrapping one hand around it and letting one of his legs move away, having the pole resting on the back of his knee. His body slowly spun around the pole, now losing the speed he had when he started, so he decides to end it. He places his hand back on the pole and pulls himself up a little, just enough so that he can straighten his legs out a little. Then, he drops down, hitting the floor and doing a perfect split.

My jaw is on the floor. "I never knew a guy could do that! That's really cool!"

He laughs and pulls his legs back, pushing himself onto his knees. "Anyone can do this. It just takes a lot of practice. When my boss gave me a chance to work for him when I was seventeen, I had to work my ass off to get to where I am now. I may not be the best, but I'm good enough to get to stand out."

I raise an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Just as he's about to say something, I hear the door open behind me. When I look, I see a blond hair man with bright blue eyes walk in. When he sees me, he just stops and stares at me before his eyes slowly travel to Ryan. "What's going on here?"

"This is the kid I told you about, Evan. Evan, this is my roommate, Bryce."

"Hello," he quickly says to me before he puts his hands on his hips and glares at Ryan. "Ohm, can I talk to you outside for a second."

Ryan rolls his eyes before he pulls himself up. "Wait right here, Evan. This should only be a minute."

I watch as the two walk outside, shutting the door behind them, and almost instantly, I hear them yelling at each other. Thanks to the rain, it's muffled more than it would have been, but worry instantly start to over take me. Images of myself curling up on my bed, crying, comes to my head as they're shouts twist and morph into my parents voices. I can hear my mom yelling, begging my dad to stop and seek help. To think of her and myself. To think of what it's putting my family through. It then would end with the front door slamming shut, and my dad disappearing for several days.

I shake my head, trying to clean out the memories that have been clouding my mind and I look around. Part of me wants to watch TV, but it would be rude to just do that without their permission. Then, my eyes go back to the pole in the middle of the room. The tricks that Ryan showed me were pretty cool. I never really looked into tricks strippers could do.

Curious, I would over to the pole and wrap one hand around it. I start thinking of the first trick he did. He was literally walking on air.

I think back to how he started it, and take a couple steps back. Then, I walk back to the pole and start walking around it, wrapping one hand around it as I lean my body away from it. Then, I try to jump up and wrap my other hand around it, but I end up falling back down to the ground.

Staring up at it, I decide to try it again, wiping the water off of my hands. I take a couple steps back and walk over to it again, taking it in one hand and leans away. I try jumping again, and again fall back to the ground. "Oh come on," I say to no one as I step away from it again.

I then run straight to the pole and jump on it, wrapping my hands and legs around it, and fall to the ground again, this time, landing on my ass. I hiss in pain as I stand back up. "How the hell was Ryan able to do this?"

I continue to try running at the pole for several minutes, trying anything to get me to stay on it for more than a second and to get me to spin. Finally, after many attempts, I'm able to at least hold onto the pole and spin on it. However, the second I try to move myself up it, I fall back down to the ground. "Damn it, so close," I complain as I step away.

"I'd say you did a good job," I hear from behind me. I turn around and see Ryan and Bryce standing by the open door. I blush and step away from the pole.

"I was just, uh," I start, trying to come up with an explanation, but I'm silenced by Ryan.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure you would have gotten bored just waiting for us, so it's fine."

He shuts the door behind him as he and Bryce walk in, and Bryce walks into the kitchen. "I'll make us something to eat."

"Alright; Evan, if you want, you can watch TV or continue playing on the pole. I'm just going to make a quick call."

I then watch as he walks to the bedroom, shutting the door behind him again. Looking over my shoulder, I start thinking of which I would rather do. As much as I would love to sit on a couch and watch TV for the first time since I was a kid; when's the next time I'm going to get to play around on a pole?

_Better question is, when's the next time I'll get to even sleep on a couch?_

I look down as that thought comes into my mind, but I try to not allow my sadness to show. "How old are you, again," I hear Bryce ask me.

I look back to the kitchen and see that he's rubbing spices on a chicken, which is resting on a bed of vegetables. "I'm fifteen."

He frowns and asks, "Where are your parents?"

I feel like I was just punched in the stomach the second I hear his question, so I look down and silently debate on if I should answer the question. However, seeing how they are giving me a place to stay for the night, I take a deep breath and say, "They're at home..."

"Well, why aren't you there with them? I'm sure they're worried about you, and I'm sure you'd prefer to sleep in your own bed instead of a stranger's couch."

I gulp and keep my head low. "They probably don't even know I'm gone. If my dad woke up before my mom, I'm sure he just threw my goodbye note away since it was on their box of needles."

Bryce instantly goes silent and when I left my head a little, I see that he's staring at me, eyes widen to the size of planets, pupils the size of ants, and his jaw is wide open. "I- I am so sorry. I shouldn't have pushed you to tell me anything. I'm sure you didn't want to talk about them."

"It's fine. I just, I have no where else to go. I left school, I'm out of money, and I don't have anyone to turn to. So, I'm more than grateful for even getting the chance to sleep on your couch. Thank you."

Bryce looks away for a second before he gives me a sad smile. "It's no problem." He then puts the chicken into the oven behind him and sets a timer. "You can watch TV or play on the pole, whichever you want. I just- I need to talk to Ohm really fast."

He then goes into the bedroom and shuts the door behind him, leaving me in the living room/kitchen alone. I turn completely around and look between the pole and the TV, silently trying to decide which I would want to do more. In the end, I decide to play on the pole. I just really want to do one of those tricks Ryan showed me.

After a couple of minute, I'm only able to hold myself up on the pole and spin just a little fast, however, no luck in being able to hold my body up so I can walk on air. This is when Bryce and Ryan walk out of the bedroom. "Bryce, I can do this on my own. You don't have to-"

"We're a team still, Ohmie. I know we aren't the same as before, but I'm not letting you do this alone. And I don't what him to go through what you did."

I look over and raise an eyebrow. "What are you guys talking about?"

They look over to me and I see them both give me small smiles. "Well," Ryan says as he walks over and sits on the couch. "I just got off the phone with my boss, and he said you can stay here for the night. However, if you want to stay for any longer, he wants you to come into the club tomorrow before we open so he could meet you."

"Really," I say, a little excited, but still more curious. "Well, why were you talking about doing something on your own."

Ryan looks over to Bryce, who lets his smile fall for a second but quickly puts it back on. "Well, we're two of the three most popular dancers in the club. He wanted us to work more hours, but we really hadn't found a reason to put our bodies under so much stress. Well, when we told him your age, he said he didn't want to risk having you there. We made a deal to work those extra hours in order to get you an interview to possibly work there."

My jaw drops. "Are you guys kidding me?"

"You wouldn't be dancing or anything," Ryan quickly says. "What he said all he'll do is put you out as a drink boy. Technically you shouldn't even be serving alcohol until you're nineteen, but we're hoping the uniform will make you look a little older than you are."

I shake my head in disbelief. "Why would you guys do this for me?"

"Because, a few years ago, I was living in a car and my boss gave me a chance to get back on my feet. I want to give the same chance for you. Though, it's a bit harder since I was seventeen when he gave me my chance, but I'll put up with whatever to make sure you get off the streets."

I smile and hug Ryan, thanking him. _This may not be the best job in the world, but anything would be better than nothing. And if it keeps me from living on the streets for another day, I will do just about anything._


	4. Meet the Boss

When I step out of Ryan's car and look up at the large brick building in front of us. I can see a sign on the front of it, but it's a cloudy and foggy day today, more than likely meaning that it's going to rain again, so it's hard to see what it says. Ryan and Bryce lead me into the building, and right away, I'm in awe.

The walls are a simple pattern of white and black, and the floor is black with white paw prints all over it. There are some people walking around wearing the same thing, which causes me to blush a little. They are all wearing white crop tops with a chubby panda wearing sunglasses face on it, black booty shorts with white paw prints on the butt and crotch, and little panda ears on the top of their heads. The uniform shows off every inch of their bodies, and it's making me feel a bit self-conscious.

"Hey, what do you two think you're doing," I hear someone yell from the opposite side of the room. I look over and see a man wearing a black, tucked in polo with the same panda face on it march over to us from the bar. He may have been talking to Ryan and Bryce, but I can see his eyes glued onto me. Ryan and Bryce quickly push me behind them and glare at the man.

"Back off, Marcel," Bryce quickly says. "Anthony asked us to bring him in for an interview."

"What?! Hell no! Look at him! You can easily tell that this kid is underage! Do you know how much trouble we can get into?!"

"Look, the kid needs help, and Anthony is offering that help," Ryan tells him.

"For a price, and you know that! I don't want him to have to go through any of the bullshit that comes with working here! Hell, he shouldn't even be here!"

"What's going on here," we hear someone yell from across the room. We look towards the back, next to a large stage with a catwalk and pole leading up to a crimson red curtain. Standing next to it, we see another man with short brown hair and a beard. He looks angry, even from a distance.

We watch as he walks over, and I see the first man, Marcel, stand up straight. "Sir, I was just telling these two they couldn't bring kids into the club. It's illegal after all."

The bearded man shakes his head and grabs Marcel's arm, pulling him away from us. They move a couple feet away from us and I see the bearded man tell Marcel something. It's then that I notice something written on the back of Marcel's shirt. In white cursive letters is the word "security". After a minute of them talking, they walk back over to us.

"I'm sorry for the way I acted. I just want to make sure nothing but the best happens for the club."

"We understand," Bryce says, turning away from Marcel and looking back to me.

"Great," the bearded man says as he pats Marcel on the back. "Now that everything is taken care of, Marcel, why don't you go get a drink from Smitty, before we open to help you relax. Bryce, you work today, so go to the back and get your costume on. Ryan, you and the kid follow me."

The moment he stops talking, I watch as Marcel walks straight to the bar and I watch Bryce walk over to the stage, going through a black door with the same panda face on it, only, it's not wearing sunglasses on that door. Instead, it looks almost like an emoji, where its laughing with its eyes closed.

I look over and see Ryan and the bearded man starting to walk towards that door as well, so I quickly follow after them. We go through that door and I see them both turn to the right, going into a stairwell that leads us to the second floor. The bearded man opens the door that's just at the top of the stairs and holds it open for both Ryan and I.

When I walk in, I look around in shock at what I see. There's a couch and TV right in front of us, behind it is a bar, farther back a mini fridge, and behind all of that is a large marble desk. Ryan and I walk up to the desk and I see a big computer on it along with several pieces of paper. There are two chairs in front of the desk and one behind it, and behind that is a row of metal filing cabinets.

Ryan and I both take a seat in the two chairs, and I look over my shoulder. Along one of the walls is a giant window that allows us to see everything that happens inside of the club. When we were down there, I took a look around the club and I didn't see the window, so I guess that it's one-sided.

The bearded man had shut the door behind us before he went into his bar and poured himself and Ryan a drink. He then pulls out another glass and just pours in some coke for me. He then walked over and handed us both the drinks before he took a seat behind the desk.

"I'm sorry about Marcel," the man tells me. "He's the best security guard we have and he cares for everyone who works here. Unfortunately, that also makes him a hard-ass when it comes to the rules. Now, why don't we get started on the interview?"

I nod and watch as he turns to his computer and starts typing something up on it. I sit and wait for him to finish whatever he's doing before he looks over to me. "Okay, now, let me introduce myself before we start. My name is Anthony, but everyone either calls me Jiggly or Panda. Obviously, this is my club, and I also own the apartment complex that everyone lives in. Now, I'm going to ask you a couple of questions and I want you to answer them all honestly. Do you understand?"

I nod and say, "Yes sir," remembering my dad always saying that to his boss before his company went under.

"Good; now, what is your full name?"

"Evan Fong."

I watch as he types on his computer before he asks, "How old are you?"

"I'm fifteen."

"Where did you live before Ohm found you?"

"The next town over."

"How did you get here?"

"I told a school friend I was going to a aunt's house, and borrowed they phone to call a lyft. I just put in an address I remembered from when I was little and just walked around the city until I found the park."

"Do you think your parents are looking for you?"

"I doubt it."

"Why is that?"

"They don't care about me."

"Why did you run away from home?" I go silent. "Evan, I need to know this. Now, why did you run away from home?"

I take a deep breath and sigh. "My parents weren't my parents anymore. When I was younger, they both got addicted to heroin, and as the years passed they got worse. I felt that, if I stayed there, I would have been sucked into it with them."

It goes silent for a couple of seconds until I hear Panda start typing on his computer again. Suddenly, I feel a hand slide into my back and see another gently wrap around my arm before they both start gently rubbing me. I feel Ryan press his body against me as he pulls me close to him.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through that. I don't know what they did to you, but I know that it had to have been really bad if it drove you to run away."

I push back my tears as I force myself to forget what they've done, because I know that that was not them. That was the drug, it was not them.

"Well then," Panda says as he finishes whatever he was typing up. "We now have to worry about the big problem, which unfortunately makes Marcel right. You look very young. I don't know if we will be able to hide your age. Not only that, but you don't have the body type we normally look for in our drink boys. And I can't bend the rules. Unless he's a employee, I can't have him staying in the apartments."

My heart drops the second I hear that. I am so close to getting not only a job, but a place to stay, and my age could ruin it for me. I don't want that to happen.

"Why don't we put him in the uniform," Ryan quickly says. "We can see what you think we can do after you see him in the uniform."

"You know the uniforms are meant to make the drink boys look younger, right."

"I know, but maybe it could make him look just a little bit older. We'll never know until we try."

He sighs and pushes his chair back. I watch as he bends over and listen as he pulls open a drawer. He then pops back up and drops a crop top, shorts, and a pair of clip on ears on the desk. "Change into these and we'll see what we can do with you."

I stare at the clothes for a few seconds, but slowly reach over and grab it. I then look up to the guys and ask, "Is there anywhere I can change?"

"You're in a strip club, kid. Just do it right here."

I feel my face start to heat up a little, but I quickly fight it off. This would be no different to changing in the school locker room... only I'll have two grown men watching me... and I'll be putting on barely anything... Okay, maybe this is very different to changing in a locker room.

I take a deep breath and stand up, putting the clothes back on the desk. I then look down and grab the bottom of my shirt before I pull it up, over my head. As I try to pop my head and arms out, I hear Panda say, "I'm guessing he may have been tone before he left home. It doesn't look like he's been on the streets for that long, but you can tell that he had been eating fast food for a while."

When I pull my shirt off, I put it behind me and I look down at my stomach. I didn't exactly have a six-pac before I ran away, but I wasn't eating fast food for that long... Unless... Does a couple weeks of nothing but fast food cause you to gain weight faster?

"Don't worry about it," Ohm quickly tells me. "He's only trying to get a feel for how your body looked; though it is a bit rude to say it out loud in front of the boy."

"I'm just being honest. You know you boys have to keep a certain body type to work here, and it's going to be no different for him."

"That doesn't mean you have to be a dick about it! He just got here! Give him time, and he'll look like the rest of us."

Panda rolls his eyes before he looks back to me. "Keep going. We need to see you in the uniform."

I nod and look down before I undo my belt. Sliding my pants off, I put them on the chair with my shirt before I grab the shirt and shorts on the desk, slipping both on me. Almost immediately after putting the small pieces of clothing on, I feel my face heat up. The crop top is a little loose on me and only covers my chest, exposing my stomach, which I wasn't too confident about after taking off my shirt. The shorts are low and show off my faded V-line, and they end just a little bit pass the start of my thigh. Feeling embarrassed enough as it is, I grab the panda ears and clip them both on the top of my head, lining them up with where my ears are.

Panda then stands up and walks over to me, going around me and looking me up and down as he does so. If my face wasn't red before, it definitely is now.

"I think we could get you to pass as just barely turned eighteen, but you're definitely going to need to work out a lot more. You're going to be put on a strict diet and you'll have to work out every single day. You're going to need to mainly focus on your torso, legs, and butt. Those shorts need to be tighter. And finally, make sure to get some briefs for work. You can't walk around with your boxers poking out of the legs of your shorts."

He looks over to Ryan and says, "I want you to make sure he sticks to the diet and to make sure he works out. I also want you to take him to get new clothes."

"Will do sir."

Panda walks back around to his desk and sits back down. I only guess that it's okay for me to change back into my clothes, and I quickly start taking off the uniform, placing it down on the desk.

"I'm going to give you six months. If he isn't at our body standard by then, he doesn't get the job."

"Yes sir," Ryan says as he reaches over and takes the uniform off of the desk.

I quickly put my shirt and pants back on and I follow Ryan as he walks out of the office. He holds the door open for me and as I walk out, he pulls the ears off of the top of my head. We quickly walk out of the club, Ryan saying hi and bye to everyone there, before he pushes me into the car.

As he starts the engine, he starts telling me, "Starting tomorrow, I'll take you on my morning runs and I'll show you where the gym is. I want you to go there when Bryce and I are at work."

I nod and look out the window as he starts to pull out of the parking lot. My eyes move back to the building, and in the quickly building darkness surrounding it, I see in bright white and neon pink lights, the sign "Big Bad Panda Club."


	5. The Stalker

"Come on, we're almost home," Ryan laughs as he jogs ahead of me. I only manage to go a couple more feet before I have to stop to try to catch my breath.

When I realized that Ryan only lived around the corner from the park, I figured it wouldn't have been a long run. I didn't think that the place he bought the breakfast sandwiches from were a two and a half miles away though! This is causing me to regret skipping gym so many times.

"Come on," Ryan laughs as he jogs in place. "We just have to cut through the park and we'll be home."

"Shut it, you show off " I say as I try to catch my breath. Once I've catch my breath however, I start jogging with him until we get back to the apartments. "I'm just a little out of shape."

"I wouldn't put it that way. You're just not use to running for that long. After all, you did start off pretty strong."

"Thanks," I laugh as we walk around the corner.

We both then look over to the opposite side of the complex and I see someone looking into one of the glass doors. I look up to Ryan, who is already in the middle of throwing his water bottle. I watch as the bottle fly up to the second floor of the building across from us, and it hits the door above the man. Within seconds, that door flies open and I see the same man from the club last night, Marcel, run out. He goes to the railing and looks down to us, and Ryan just points to the man below Marcel.

Marcel rolls his eyes and carefully crawls over the railing before he slowly lowers himself down to the first floor. He jumps into the grass to make his landing as quiet as he possibly could, before he walks up behind the man. My eyes widen and I gasp as I watch Marcel then grab the back of the man's head and slam it against the door before throwing him onto the ground.

"I told you to stay the hell away from here," Marcel yells at the man. "You've already been banned from the club, and we've already called the police on you three times! If you don't get the fuck out of my face right now, I swear to god, I'll beat you into the ground!"

I blink and by the time I had opened my eyes, the man was running around the corner to get away. Marcel turns to the door and rips the door open before he yells, "Are you fucking serious?!"

Ryan turns me to him and hands me the keys to the apartment. "Go wait for me in the apartment. You can take a shower if you want, you can watch TV, or play on the pole, whatever. It doesn't matter. Just go wait in there and make sure to lock the door behind you."

I take the keys and nod, having a feeling that now isn't the time to ask any questions. As I walk to the apartment door, I look over my shoulder and watch as Ryan runs across the courtyard and goes through the door Marcel ran through.

I go into the apartment and do as I was told, making sure to lock the door behind me before I put the key into a bowl next to the TV. I decide to take a shower first, so I walk to the bedroom and open a drawer in their dresser, taking out a clean shirt, pants, and boxers for me. It's been three days since I met Panda, and Ryan and Bryce have been pushing to make sure that I follow the rules he made for me.

They cleared out one of the drawers for me to have my clothes in, I have to work out multiple times a day, and they've made sure to have pre made meals for me, which I have to eat throughout the day. Although my body has been sore from that, I know it's for the best. I need to get this job.

Once I grab my clothes, I walk into the bathroom and turn on the water in the shower, sticking my hand in to test the temperature. As soon as I think that it is just right, I slip out of my sweatshirt and pants and get into the shower, allowing the warm water to hit my body. I then shut my eyes before I take a bottle of shampoo and start massaging it into my hair.

As I scrub out the dirt and sweat built up on my body, I allow my mind to wonder off again, and of course, I end up thinking about my parents again. As time goes on, I can't help but think of them. They are... They were everything to me. I love them so much and I never in a million years would have ever thought I would be in this situation, but I knew I had to leave.

As I rinse off the soap and shampoo out of my hair, I start thinking more about the time before my parents fell into the darkness that was their addiction. I remember my dad getting more and more angry as days went on and he struggled to get work. I remember my mom skipping meals in order to make sure I ate every night. I remember my dad crying when he had to ask my grandparents to help them pay our bills. Then, one day, he came home and was... different. Later on, my mom and I learned that that was the day he was welcomed into the darkness.

I shake my head and turn off the water. I don't want to think about my dad like that. He wasn't always like that, I know he wasn't. I can still remember him as the man that taught me how to ride a bike. The man that told me I could do anything and he would still be proud of me. The man that always made sure to spend a full day with my mom and myself, so that we always knew that he loved us. The man that would work his ass off to make sure that we had a comfortable life. That's what I want to remember. I don't want to think about my dad when he was swallowed by his darkness. That isn't him.

As I step out of the shower and I start drying myself off with a towel, I think more about how my parents use to be. Who they really are. My dad was someone to look up to. My mom was someone to admire. They were amazing people that fell into something. I hope they can get out of it, and I hope I can see them again. For now though, I need to get this job. I need to do something to get my life moving in a good direction, and I think it may be able to start with this job.

After drying myself off, I put my clothes on and walk out to the living room, where I see that Ryan and Bryce are still not back. I look over to the pole in the middle of the room and take a deep breath before I run to it and jump on, wrapping my hands and legs around it and starting to spin around it, using as much of my upper body strength as I can to keep myself up.

Whenever I can, I try to practice those tricks Ryan showed me, but I haven't made that much progress with them. I still can't walk on air, but I can hold myself up for a minute.

I try to make myself spin around the pole as my legs start kicking around, when I hear the door start to open, causing me to freeze and fall to the ground. I groan as I push myself up onto my knees, and put a hand on my head as I hear laughing behind me. "You can't be all that shy whenever we come in," Ryan says as he walks over to me and helps me up.

I hear the door shut and look over to see Bryce walking towards the bedroom with a basket of clothes in his arms. When I'm on my feet, I turn around and sit on the couch before I ask, "What was all of that outside?"

Ryan rolls his eyes and sighs. "That was one of the few things we hate about our jobs. The man that Marcel chased away was a former costumer. His name is also Ryan, and he was a business man that came in daily. Every time he came in, everyone treated him better than any other costumer there. He had money, and he loved to spend it. And then Bryce showed up!"

"Shut up, Ohm" I hear Bryce yell from the bedroom. He walks back out and leans against the counter. "It's not my fault he got attached."

"What," I say, confused.

"I started working at the club about a year ago, maybe a year and a half. When I started, I worked my ass off to get good at the job, and Ryan took notice. After a while, he requested that I would either serve him his drinks or give him lap dances, whichever I could do that day. Then one day, he asked me to be his boyfriend, and I turned him down for two reasons. Both of which would have gotten me fired."

"What were the reasons?"

"We have three rules at the club for the employees," Ryan explains. "Number one, no matter what, you have to do as the boss says. If he tells you to jump, you do it, no questions asked. Number two, you can not date a costumers. We provide them with a service, and we leave it at that."

I nod and see Bryce and Ryan then turn to look at each other. "The last rule," Bryce then says. "Is that employees are not allowed to date other employees."

"A rule Bryce and I broke."

My eyes widen. "Wait, you guys are dating?"

"No," Ryan says before he turns away. "We broke up a few months ago. But when Ryan asked Bryce to go out with him, we had been a couple for a week. No body knows about us though, so you have to keep quiet about it."

I nod.

"After I turned Ryan down though, things changed. He drank more and started touching me whenever I gave him a dance. I would always tell him to stop, and Marcel gave him serval warnings. One day, he came in when I wasn't there, and he got pissed off."

"He started yells at us; accusing us of hiding you from him, and he tried to go backstage. Before then, he was always so calm and nice, so all of the guys were scared."

"After that day, Panda banned him from the club. And then he got worse, which we didn't think was possible."

"He started waiting for you outside of the club until we called the police on him. Then he started following you after you left work, so he found out where we all live. Stalking turned into harassing and blackmail, which caused our break up."

"However," Bryce sighs as he smiles. "He is stopping. This was the first time he's shown up all month, and he didn't do anything other than stare at me; so it's a good sign. He might be getting bored of something, I don't know."

"I don't know either," Ryan says, looking away. "But I don't trust this. He was watching you do laundry for God only knows how long. You were alone."

"Ohm, stop; I'm fine."

"I know, but Marcel was right. You shouldn't have let your guard down."

"It was a mistake and a one time thing. It won't happen again. Now, if you guys will excuse me, I have more laundry to do." As soon as he says those words, he turns and walks into the bedroom again.

Ryan rolls his eyes and mutters, "Why do you always have to be an ass when I try to help you?"

He then looks over to me and smiles. "So, Evan, why don't you try practicing again? Having someone here might actually help you get these tricks down."

I chuckle and nod before I get off of the couch and walk over to the pole. _As long as Marcel is here, we're safe it seems... That's what this means... Right?_


	6. Welcome to the Family

***Six Months Later***

As I stand in front of Panda in the same uniform I wore only a few months ago, I can't help but feel a lot more confident. The crop top is a lot tighter around my chest, showing off the abs I had been working on and the muscles in my arm quite nicely. The shorts are a little tighter around my legs and ass, shaping my butt to make it look bigger. Even with the panda ears, I can't help but think I actually look good in this.

Panda walks around me, looking me up and down as he lets his eyes following the curves of my body. He then stops in front of me and smirks at me. "You definitely fill out that uniform well, though you still look young. However, we've recently picked up some new costumers that will help us out with keeping your age a secret."

"Have you told them about Evan yet," Ryan asks. Ryan and Bryce are standing behind me in the middle of Panda's office, both of them telling me that they wanted to show me that they would always support me.

"Not yet, but I will tell them soon. For now though, I'm going to set you up to work in the late after noon, before the club actually opens. You'll be working part time, and setting up for the show, and training. You'll mainly be working with Bryce and Smitty for now."

"Smitty?"

"He's our bartender," Ryan tells me.

"Do you understand everything that I've told you," Panda asks. His gaze on me makes me feel small, and it feels as if he is trying to announce his dominance over me.

I quickly take a deep breath before I smile and say, "Yes sir."

"Good. Now, why don't you go introduce yourself to Smitty before you leave. As far as I know, you haven't gotten the chance to meet anyone else around the apartment complex."

"That's our fault, Jiggly," Ryan quickly says. "We were so focused on making sure that he got the right body type that we didn't introduce him to anyone else."

Panda goes around his desk and sits down. "It doesn't matter. Now is the perfect time for him to start meeting everyone, starting with the person he will be working with the most." He starts typing something on his computer as he then says, "Make sure to be here at one tomorrow, and I suggest coming up with a stage name as well."

"A stage name?"

"You know, a name that you'll go by if you ever go on stage. Something the costumers will call you. We don't have anyone here work without one."

I look behind me to Ryan and Bryce, and while Bryce is just staring at the ground, Ryan is smiling at me. "I go by OhmWerker, for a play on home wrecker, and Bryce goes by Kitten, due to him loving cats."

I look down and start thinking of what I could be called instead of Evan. As I start changing my clothes, many things start going through my mind, and somehow, my parents come back into my mind. I start thinking about the company my dad use to work for. He designed cars for them, and he was pretty much obsessed with all the details that went into making them, and told me about all the parts in them. Out of all of them though, one part sticks out in my mind. "Vanos," I say as I pull my shirt down.

"What," Panda asks. "What's a Vanos?"

"It's a car part that was used in the engines for BMWs. I want that to be my stage name."

Panda raises an eyebrow and looks at me, confusion written all over his face. However, he then looks back at his computer and says, "Alright, but we'll change the spelling up a bit so if people see your name, they think of you and not a car. We'll just add another S." He looks back to him computer and starts typing again. "Now, go meet Smitty and Bryce will take you home today. Ohm is on tonight."

"Yes sir," the three of us say before we turn and leave.

Ryan and Bryce are in front of me and I see that Bryce is still looking down with his arms crossed. Ryan gives him a small smile and says, "Why don't you guys have a cheat day and order a pizza tonight? And I'll ask one of the guys for a ride so you don't have to come back here." He then tries to put a hand on Bryce's shoulder, but the second he touches him, Bryce pulls away.

"Yeah, thanks," he says in a monotone voice. He then holds out his hand the second he reaches the bottom of the stairs, and Ryan sighs as he pulls out his keys and hands them to Bryce.

"Bryce, you know we're here for you. You just need to talk to us."

"I'm fine, Ohm." He then pushes pass him and walks out of the stairwell, and I have to run to catch up with him. Without looking back to make sure I'm even following behind him, he walks through the club to the bar on the side, just under Panda's office. He then sits on a stool and says, "Mind getting me a drink for the road."

"Well hello you too, buttercup," the bartender says, raising an eyebrow. The bartender is a young guy, looks to be just a few years older than me. Probably nineteen. He has fluffy black hair and brown eyes, and is somewhat tall.

He grabs a small glass and puts a single, large, roll piece of ice in it before he pours a brown liquor in it. He then slides it over to Bryce, who thanks him before he takes a snip. Bryce then points to me with his thumb and says, "By the way, this is Evan. He's going to be training with me to be a drink boy, and Panda wanted me to introduce him to you."

The bartender then looks at me and looks me up and down before saying, "Aren't you a little young to be working in a place like this?"

"Panda hired him, so it's fine," Bryce says before he takes a big drink.

"Okay, okay; I was just asking. It's nice to meet you, kid. I'm Lucas, but everyone calls me Smitty."

"I'm Evan, but I guess I should be going by Vanoss here."

Smitty chuckles and smiles at me. "You want a drink too? I can get you a coke or orange juice if you want."

"Sure, a coke sounds good." I pull myself onto the seat next to Bryce as Smitty grabs another glass, puts in the ice, and pours a can of coke into it.

He then puts it on the counter and slides it over to me, yelling, "Yeet," as he does so. I can't help but laugh as I catch the glass with one hand. "Good catch," he says as he walks over to Bryce and myself.

"You need to stop doing that," Bryce says, putting his now empty glass on the counter. "Panda is going to be pissed if you break another glass."

"We just got in an order of new ones, I think I'm fine."

"Whatever. Just get me another drink."

"I don't know. If you're going to be driving, I don't think I should."

"Just get me a rum and coke, light on the rum then."

Smitty raises an eyebrow and makes Bryce's drink, handing it to him once it's done. He then turns to me and starts talking to me, telling me about what the job is going to be like and eventually, we start talking about ourselves.

"Yeah, I have a bunch of games at my apartment. Once you get your own place, just let me know and you can borrow them."

"That sounds awesome; thanks in advance."

"Alright Vanoss," Bryce says as he puts his empty glass down. "Let's get back to the apartment before the club opens."

"Alright. It was nice meeting you, Smitty."

"I'll see you around, Vanoss."

I jump off of the bar stool and quickly walk behind Bryce as he leads us out of the club and to Ryan's car, which is parked in front of the club. We jump in and he instantly starts up the car and practically speed out of the parking lot. As we drive back to the apartments, I try to talk to him, but he seems to just ignore me throughout the whole drive.

Finally, when we are less than a minute from the apartment, I ask, "What's wrong, Bryce?"

"Nothing."

"I don't believe you. You've been acting different for two weeks now."

"What do you mean?"

"You won't talk to anyone anymore, not even Ryan. You give him attitude when you do talk to him, and you've been drinking a lot."

We then pull into the parking lot for our apartment complex and he doesn't say another word. He just gets out of the car and starts walking to the apartment without me. I hurry to lock the car doors and run to catch up to him. Once he walks into the apartment, he starts walking to the bedroom, and I yell after him. "Bryce, please, just tell me what's wrong?"

"It's none of your business, Evan," he yells at me as he walks into the bedroom. "Just practice on the pole or something! I don't care! Just leave me alone!" Once he's done yelling at me, he then slams the door shut, locking it behind him.

I sigh and shut the door behind me, locking it as well before I walk over to the TV and turn it on. I start flipping through channels before I get to the crime network and I stop. As I watch a couple actors recreate a crime scene and hear the real officers talk about how they solved the cases, I hear the shower turn on in the other room.

_Weird. I thought he already took a shower this morning._


	7. Business As Usual

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ***Trigger Warning* This chapter contains drug usage!***

**Almost Two Years Later***

"Alright, we have a whiskey on rocks, two beers, a Long Island iced tea, and four shots of fireball," I say as I put all the drink in front of the four men in front of me.

"Thanks Vanoss," one of the men say as he takes a quickly drink of his beer. "And make sure that all of this is put on the tab."

"Anything for our men in blue," I say, flashing a smile.

"Anything ha," one of the other men say before he reaches over and gently starts to run his hand up the back of my thigh, trying to reach for my ass.

I quickly slap it away and say, "Not that, Officer Nova. You know the rules; you can look, but don't touch."

"But it's so tempting," he says, leaning back in his seat. "I've been looking since they put you on the floor. I just want a taste."

I roll my eyes. "With that being said, you boys just got cut off. Enjoy the rest of the show."

When I walk away, I hear Nova start to whine, saying that he wasn't saying anything that wasn't true. Shaking my head, I walk back over to Smitty and put my tray on the bar. "You got table twelve's drinks for me?"

"You already know," he says before he pours in a couple shots into a drink and starts putting several drinks on the tray for me. "After this, I need you to go to the back and see if any of the guys want any drinks as well."

"You got it. Make sure you don't get anymore orders from table ten, by the way; and make sure to put their drinks on the Blue tab."

"Did one of them try to grab you again," he asks with a worried experience on his face.

"Yeah, James finally reached his limit."

"You know, you should really let Marcel know about this, or cut them off before they start doing this to you. It isn't safe."

"I'm a big boy, Smitty. I promise, I'm fine."

"That's the problem though. You're still a boy."

"I'll be eighteen soon."

"Next year isn't soon."

"It's not a full year."

"Seven months isn't soon. And even if it was, I'm just saying-"

"I know, I know; but I promise, I'm fine. Now, I have to get these drinks out before the ice melts. I'll be back with the guys' orders." I then pick up the tray and balance it with one hand before I walk back into the floor and make my way to the table the drinks go to.

I smile and playfully flirt with the guest as I hand them their second round of drinks. Once I'm done, I walk to the back of the club and go backstage, making sure the door closes before me. Then, I go to the dressing area, just as one of the dancers comes off the stage. I roll my eyes as soon as I see him though, already knowing what's going to go down.

As I try to walk over to the other dancers, he runs over to me and grabs my arm. "Evan," Moo says before he pulls me back. "Did you look into the job listings I printed out for you yet?"

"No Brock, I didn't. I already told you I wasn't going to do it."

"Evan please, I'm just looking out for you. I don't want you to be here forever. You're young, and you can do anything you wanted."

"I'll leave when I want to. Right now, I'm paying off my car and have a free place to live. I don't want to run off and screw myself over. Plus, I love it here."

"I'm only trying to help you."

"I don't need your help, Moo. What I need is to know what you want to drink."

He sighs and shakes his head. "I'll get a coke. Just please, look at the jobs. I found a lot of really good ones this time; not just cashier jobs." I just write down his order and walk over to the others, not saying another word to him.

Ever since I was put on the floor, Moo and Marcel have been trying to get rid of me in a somewhat nice way. They haven't been trying to get me fired, but they have been annoying me and nag at me to get out of here. Moo has been printing out packets with different information about other jobs every month, and it's been getting annoying. I don't know why they keep doing it, but I'm hoping they stop soon.

When I walk over to the others, I smile and start chatting with each and every single one of them before I take their orders, leaving the best two for last. "What can I get you boys," I say as I lean against Ohm's vanity.

Ohm smiles at me and, as he plays with his clipped on bunny ears, says, "Hey Vanoss. Just get me a coke. How's work treating you today?"

"It's going well today," I say as I write down his order. I then look at Bryce and give him a soft smile.

He's just staring at himself in the mirror, trying to tie his bell choker around his neck, and I don't think he even realizes I'm here. I sigh at this and frown. I know that something is bugging him, I just don't know what it is. I don't live with him and Ohm anymore, so I don't know if they've talked about it yet, but I do know that Bryce is burying something. I just don't know what.

"Bryce," I say a little louder to get him to look my way. He doesn't, though.

Ohm rolls his eyes and kicks his chair, causing him to move and finally come back to reality. He looks over to us, and shakes his head. "I'm sorry. What's wrong," he says, his words slurring as he talks.

"Did you want something to drink for after you go on stage," I ask.

"Which is now," Ohm adds.

"Shit," Bryce says under his breath before he stands up extremely slowly, finishing his knot to keep his choker on. "Yeah, get me a-"

"Nothing," Ohm quickly says, shaking his head. "Bryce, sit back down, you're not going anywhere."

"But I have to-"

"But nothing," Ohm interrupts again before he forces Bryce to sit down.

"Has Bryce been drinking a lot already," I ask, looking at Ohm.

"I haven't had a drop," Bryce says, his body swaying in his seat.

"Just go tell Panda that Bryce is in no shape to dance, Vanoss. Please. I'm afraid he might fall off the stage if he goes up like this. And put him down for orange juice."

I write it down and nod before I turn and start walking towards the hallway in between backstage and the stairwell. As I get close to the door, I look over and see Moo using his credit card to cut a white powder into thin lines on his vanity. I shake my head at him and groan, catching his attention.

"You shouldn't be doing that shit here," I tell him as I reach the door.

"Stay here and you'll understand why I do this," he tells me as he picks up a cut up straw and bring it to his nose. I then watch as he brings himself close to the vanity and he snorts one of the lines and lets out a sigh. "This job isn't what it seems, Evan."

"Yeah right, that's why everyone here does cocaine at work. Oh no wait; that's only you."

He glares at me and slams his fist against this top of the vanity. "You don't know shit, Evan!"

"I know what I see, and guess what I always see! Now, if you will excuse me," I then turn away and march out the door before going to the stairwell.

I run up to the office and knock loudly on the door in order to make sure that Panda can hear me. I hear a muffled voice and then silence, telling me that I'm good to go in. Slowly opening the door, I look in and see that Panda is standing by the window to the club floor, looking around at the guest below. He then looks over to me and gives me a soft smile.

"What can I do for you, Vanoss?"

"Sir, Bryce is in no shape to go onstage."

"And why is that," he asks, scrunching up his face.

"I think he's had too much to drink again, sir."

Panda shakes his head and sighs. "Alright, have Ohm take his place on stage, let Jay know about the change, and let Moo and Lui know they will be closing the show instead of Ohm and Bryce."

"I don't know if you would want Moo on stage again."

"And why is that?"

"Before I came up, I saw him snorting a couple lines of cocaine."

"Well, maybe this will teach him a lesson about doing drugs at work. Now please, go tell them all of that and then come back here. I need to talk to you about something."

I feel my heart start to sink, thinking something may be wrong. However, I know that I have no choice. I just say, "Yes sir," before I turn away from him and walk out of the office.

Once I get to the hallway, I quickly turn back to the floor and walk out, going over to the bar and giving Smitty the drink orders from the back. As he gets started on making the drinks, I walk towards the DJ booth and jump onto the edge. "Hey Jay," I yell over the music.

He looks over to me and flashes me a smile. "Hey Vanoss; what's up?"

"I just have to let you know, there's a change in the show. Ohm is going to go on next instead of Kitten, and Lil' Monkey and Moo will be closing."

"Got it. Let the boys know they have to get on stage soon though."

"You got it."

I jump back off of the booth and walk back to the bar, picking up two trays this time and making my way backstage. Once I'm there, I start giving the boys their drinks, save the last four for the people I needed to talk to. Then, I walk to the back and hand Bryce and Ohm their drink.

"I talked to Panda and he said he wants you to cover for Bryce, Ohm."

"What about the closing? That's was supposed to be us?"

"That's been given to Lui and Brock now."

I see a fire start to light up in Ohm's eyes as he glares at Bryce's who is staring at the ceiling, and breathing extremely slowly. Ohm pushes himself off of the couch, grabs the cloth he always ties over his eyes, and walks over to the stage, pushing the little black button on the wall to let Jay know to introduce him.

Looking back to Bryce, I begin to worry for him. Over the past two years, he's changed a lot. It's rare for me to see him when he isn't drinking, and over the past two months, I've noticed that he's been getting drunk a lot more at work. I know that there is something wrong with him, but I don't know what it is. Even seeing him like this... It reminds me so much of-

"I hope none of your boyfriends know that you're here," I hear Jay say over the speakers. "If they did, it's going to be hard for you to sneak this bunny home. He's here to play his game and disappear by morning. Let's hear some noise for the one and only masked home wrecker, Ohmwrecker!"

I shake my head and pick up the tray with the last two drinks on them and make my way to Lui and Moo, who are hanging out with a couple of the other dancers and Nogla, another one of our security guards. Once I want other to them, I hand them their drinks and tell him, "There's been a change in scheduled. You guys are closing tonight."

Lui instantly starts choking on his drink and shakes his head. Once he clears his throat, he shakes his head more and says, "No, that's bullshit. I opened and just finished giving God knows how many people lap dances."

"Not to mention your eight hours is almost up," Nogla adds. "We still have two more dances before the closing."

"I'm sorry guys," I tell them. "I'm not the one who changed the schedule. It was Panda's orders."

Moo shakes his head as well. "What the hell happened to Bryce this time?"

I glare at him as I say, "He just had too much to drink. But you better hope you're sober by closing."

I then turn away and walk out as Moo starts to say, "I don't remember seeing Bryce-" the door shuts behind me before I can hear the last part, but it wasn't important. Most of the time, all Brock has to talk about is wanting me to quit or talking shit about Ohm and Bryce. Either way, I'm not listening to it.

Once I'm in the hallway, I turn and walk back into the stairwell and I knock on the door to Panda's office before I walk in. He doesn't say a word to me, which tells me that he wants me to go join him, so I shut the door behind me and walk over to the window, looking out into the club. I see the large crowd of people all talking to each other as they all stare at the stage. On it, Ohm is wowing the crowd by doing trick after trick, slowly taking off his shorts by allowing gravity to strip him down.

"Have you been practicing on the pole with Ohm or Bryce," Panda asks me.

"Ohm has been teaching me, sir."

"Have you been practicing giving lap dances?"

"No sir; not yet."

"Have you been looking for another job?"

"What?" I look over to him and see that he is still staring at the club.

"Well, this isn't exactly the best place to work at forever. I offered you this job to help you when you really needed it, and part of me is afraid that you may not need it anymore."

I look down for a couple seconds before I look back into the club. "Well, I don't really need it anymore, but I haven't been looking. Honestly, I like it here."

"I don't want you getting hurt though, that's one of my main concerns. I've been watching the club all night, and I saw one of the officers try to grab you before you came up here."

"So they get a little handsy when they drink. I can handle them. Besides, like I said, I like it here. I can't see myself working anywhere else."

I feel his arm slide across my back and his hand gently grabs my arm. He then pulls me somewhat close to him, which makes me look over to him. He's looking at me now, and he's wearing a soft smile on his face.

"I'm happy to hear that. Not only would I miss you if you left, but a lot of the costumers would be disappointed. I can see you becoming one of our most popular dancers here if you work hard enough."

I smile back at him before I say, "That means a lot coming from you, sir."

He then pats my shoulder and starts to turn to his desk, his eyes still on me. "Now, that isn't what I wanted to talk to you about. Come, sit."

I follow him over to his desk and sit down in front of it. He starts typing something up on his computer before he says, "I know you have tomorrow off, however, with how Bryce has been lately, I can't afford for this to happen again, especially tomorrow."

"What do you mean?"

"We have a party coming in, and they all have never been here before. They're friends of one of our security guards, and are going to be placed in the VIP room. Originally, I was going to have Bryce be their drink boy, but I can't risk him getting drunk before they come in. Instead, I want you to take his place."

"Who else will be working the party?"

"Ohm and Lui, of course, along with Chilled, GaLm, and the new dancer, Mini. They will be in charge of dancing on the pole and giving them lap dances, however, you will only be on drink detail. You will be the only one who will not be allowed to do anything, so I'm also going to put Marcel and Nogla in the room for your safety. That is, if you want to work it."

I smile and sit up straight. "You can count on me, sir!"

"That's what I want to hear. Now, why don't you take off for the rest of the night. I'm going to have one of the guard walk you out for safety as well and I'll let the boys know about the change. Be here at six, got it?"

"Yes sir. Have a good night," I say as I stand up.

"You as well; see you tomorrow."

I leave my trays on Panda's personal bar before I walk out the door and down the stairs to the hallway. I then go backstage and walk behind the vanity mirrors to our personal lockers. Once I have mine opened, I change into my street clothes and walk to the exit in the back, but wait for one of the security guards.

After a while, I see my favorite out of all of the security guards walk over, and he shakes his head as he walks over. "Why the fuck do you get to leave so early," Tyler asks as he walks over.

"Schedule change."

"Wish I had constant schedule changes for my benefit, but then again, I don't want to suck Panda's dick."

"I'm not doing that."

"Yeah right. Just hurry up and get out of here so I can get back to work," he says as he pushes the door open. I smirk and lean up against wall. He glares at me and after three seconds, he shuts the door and starts walking away. "I'm not doing this shit."

"Okay," I then say before I push open the door and start walking out. The second I step onto the first step, I hear Tyler running after me.

I start walking down the steps before I turn to the employee parking section and start walking to my car, with Tyler close behind me. "I swear, you're going to get me fired."

"Panda would never do that. He's too nice."

"Whatever. Hey, if you're still up by the time I get off, you want to play something?"

"Don't you have school tomorrow?"

"Nah. I'm hitching tomorrow so I can relax for one day. Besides, I got my friends a deal for one of their birthdays."

"Oh yeah."

"They're really excited to come to the club."

My eyes widen and I look over to him as we get closer to my car. "Wait, is it one of their birthday's tomorrow?"

"Technically it was two weeks ago, but his family got in the way. But yeah, him, a couple of our friends, and I were going to come by and party it up with the guys. Wait, how did you know about the party?"

"Uh, schedule change."

He stops and stares at me as I walk to my driver side door. "No, dude, we're paying for everyone in that room to dance and drink. Things you can't do!"

"I can drink if I want to."

He rolls his eyes. "You shouldn't, and since you're being put in the room, Marcel is most likely getting put in and he would beat my ass if one of my friends offered you a drink. Besides, that doesn't change the fact that you're seventeen. You can't dance for or on my friends."

"Look, you guys are getting a lot of dancers, including Ohm and Lui. I think you and your friends will be fine." I then smirk and add, "I was even told that the dominant dancer was being put in the room too. Something you might enjoy more than anyone."

He blushes and looks away from me, before he says, "I guess. I just hope none of them do anything stupid towards you."

"For your friends' sake, I hope so too. I'll see you tomorrow."

"See ya. Drive safe."

I get into my car and start it up. Before I pull out, I watch Tyler as he walks back into the club from the back. _Tomorrow sounds like it's going to be a lot of fun._


	8. The Party

As Smitty fills four pitchers with beer, I gather some cups and take them to the VIP room. When I come back, Smitty is placing the pitchers on two trays for me. "We just put in a keg in the bar in that room, so if you start running low, you can refill them in there." He then chuckles and shakes his head. "Though, since you guys are dealing with Tyler and his friends, you might end early enough that you guys can chill for an hour and drink the last two pitchers by yourselves."

"Got it," I laugh as I pick up the trays and balance them in my hands.

"Hey Evan," Smitty then says in a more serious tone, stopping me as I had just started to turn away.

I turn back to him and just say, "Yeah?"

"Be careful in there, okay. I know Marcel and David are going to be watching over you, but I don't know how many guys are in this party, and I don't know how much they will all drink. I may have just joked about how much they might drink tonight, but since I know nothing about these guys, they could drink that whole keg with no problem. Not only that, but it's different from when they are out here. You can't cut them off; only security can by throwing them out."

"Okay, I will." I then turn away and walk to the back, going back into the VIP room.

The party isn't here yet, so the dancers are all sitting on the chairs and couch, relaxing and talking to each other as they wait. GaLm and Chilled are sitting on the couch, while Ohm, Lui, and Mini are in the seats around the pole.

They seemed to have been in the middle of a conversation, so when I walk in, I don't get the full context of what they were talking about. Looking at the two on the couch however, I see that they have worried expressions on them, and Chilled looks like he's about to be sick.

"You guys don't have to worry too much, though," Ohm tells them. "Before they come into the room, they are told the rules and are told that if one of them breaks any of the rules, the whole party will be kicked out. And I will say, the pay is much better than working the floor. Not only will Jiggly give us a little extra for the night, but anyone that comes here will only see us, so there is no sharing our tips with anyone else trying to get a costumer, or anyone else jumping on the pole. And half the time, the people who get this room are making bank."

"Not to mention," Lui jumps in. "If you make a really good first impression, sometimes the customers will get this room for a little one on one time, which I kind of like better."

"And like we said," Ohm says as he looks over to me. "Since Evan's here, the guards are going to be put into the room."

I smile and lean against the bar. "Don't forget that this is Tyler's friends. Not only will he be here, but he will push to make sure that his friends don't do anything stupid."

"That's true."

The guys then change the subject, trying to relax more before the party comes in. Ohm and Lui start talking about what they normally do when a party comes through. After a couple minutes, I get a text from Marcel, saying, "Prepare."

I look up and let the others know about the text, and they instantly shut up and stand up. Chilled runs over to the other side of the room and turns on the speakers. Music fills the room, and the boys all make their way to the front of the room, ready to welcome the party. Lui however, being one of the best dancers we have, jumps on the little stage in the middle of the room and poses against the pole. While we wait for the party to come through the door, I start setting up my two trays, putting several glasses on them each one and I start pouring the beer into each one of them.

Finally, the door opens, and the party is let in. Instantly, some of them are picked by some of the dancers and led to the chairs, and the others just go to sit back to watch the show as Lui starts his dance for the song that's playing. I silently count how many people are here and silently sigh once I see that I got the right amount of glasses already put out.

Picking up the trays, I balance them in my hands and walk over to the group, giving the boys that don't have someone on them their drinks first. The last guy I go to give a drink to, I quickly notice that he isn't like the others. He's sitting back, arms and legs crossed, and he looks somewhat bored. Almost as if he doesn't even want to be here.

When I walk over to give him his drink, he looks up at me, and I'm instantly taken back by his bright blue eyes. I flash him a smile before I hand him the last beer on the first tray, and he smiles at me as he takes it.

As I walk away, I keep my eyes locked on him, looking over my shoulder as I walk behind the couch he's sitting on. His head turns as he watches me walk away, and I notice that his eyes are moving up and down my body.

I turn away, feeling my face start to heat up as I feel the man's eyes on me. After almost two years of this, you'd think I'd be use to someone looking at me like that, but something feels different about this one.

Slipping the now empty tray under the second one, I start walking over to the chairs and putting a beer next to each guy, making sure not to get in the way of the dancer, but putting it close enough to chairs so that the guys know it's there. However, when I get to the guy Ohm is giving a lap dance to, I walk behind the chair and put the two empty trays down, before I grab the glass. When Ohm sees me, he smiles and jumps off the man, keeping his hands on his shoulder. He bends over, keeping his legs straight as he drags his hands down the man's body. Finally, he pulls himself up, putting one leg next to the man's lap, before he reaches back keeping his eyes locked with the man under him. I hand him the beer, and he puts it to the man's lips, allowing him to drink a little before he pulls it away, setting it next to the chair. Ohm and I smile at each other before I pick up my trays and walk back to the bar.

I put two of the pitchers under the bar and keep my eye open to the men around the room. Or at least, I try to, until Marcel comes over to the bar and glares at me. I roll my eyes and cross my arms before I glare back at him.

"What," I growl, only loud enough for him to hear me through the music.

He leans over the bar and says," I saw that look you gave that man! Do not look at these guys like that!"

"I don't know what you're talk about!"

"The guy in the blue hoodie!"

"All I did was give him a beer and smiled at him!"

"And keep your eyes on him as you walked away!"

"Okay, so?!"

"So?! Vanoss, these guys are all around Tyler's age! You can't flirt with them!"

"So what?! I can only flirt with the thirty year olds that normally come in?!"

"I don't like that shit either, but at least then I know you aren't going to do shit with them!"

"I'm not going to do shit with these guys either! Just get back to work, already! I have to keep an eye on their beers!"

He continues to glare at me, but backs away, going back to his spot against the wall. I continue to glare at him as David bumps him, giving him a soft smile. Shaking my head, I turn my attention back on the people around the room. As I scan the room, I take note on how often everyone takes a drink, and go out when I see that some of them are starting to get low.

When I go out and start the first row of refills, I look towards the couch and see that instead of watching Lui, the blue eyed man is watching me as I start refilling the glasses for the men getting lap dances first. I smile and look down as I refill Tyler's drink and get ready to walk away, but stop when he loops a finger in one of my belt loops and pulls me back.

I kneel down and come a little closer to him as Mini walks away to give someone else a lap dance. He then turns to me and tells me, "Do not flirt with my friends. None of them know how old you are, and I don't want you to get one of them in trouble."

"I'm not flirting with them, damn it! I'm just doing my job and trying to get them to come back! That's why Panda put me in here."

I then walk away from him and finish refilling the drinks for the guys that were getting dances. As I refill the drink for the new guy getting a dance from Mini, I can't help but chuckle as I see the shocked expression on his face.

Mini may be new, but he's quickly becoming one of our most popular dancers. He's much more dominant than any of our other dancers, and it is drawing a lot of attention his way. It breaks the impress most people have about all dancers being, submissive? I believe that's how Bryce had put it.

After filling that glass, I look pass him and look at the other three that are on the couch. When I look at the glasses however, I can't help but raise an eyebrow. Last time I looked, I could have sworn that the two in the middle were about half way done with their drinks, however, now they're full. However, the one on the opposite side, the one with the stunning blue eyes, has nothing in his glass.

This confuses me since I don't really remember seeing him take a drink, but I walk over anyways. Once I walk next to him, the man instantly looks over to me and smiles at me, handing me his empty glass. As I start to refill it, he turns his body towards me, resting his arm on the back of the couch and crossing his legs towards me.

"Hello," he say, trying to talk to me; however, the music is somewhat drowning out his voice.

I chuckle at this, but smile at him. Once I fill his glass, I lean down to hand him his drink, and just say, "Hey," before I walk away.

I walk back over to the bar and get the next pitcher ready for when they need their next ready. My eyes start scanning the room yet again, and soon I start staring off into space and I actually start listening to the music. I smile when I hear the beat starting for one of my favorite songs coming on, and I see out of the corner of my eye Ohm and Lui trading places, so that Ohm could dance to the song.

I shut my eyes and start bobbing my head to the beat and soon, I start singing along to it. However, I only sing it quietly. I don't want anyone to hear me singing along to it, and tell me I hang out with Bryce too much again.

About half way through the song, I hear someone laughing, causing my eyes to shoot open and I jump back in shock, not expecting anyone to come up to me. When I look to see who's in front of me, I feel my face instantly heat up. It's the blue eyed man.

"What can I do for you," I quickly ask, trying to act like I didn't just embarrass myself in front of a cute guy.

He smiles at me before he says, "You didn't look like the type to be into a song like this. Don't get me wrong, Or Nah is a good song, but it isn't actually classy."

I smirk and roll my eyes, "When you listen to the same songs every day, you learn to either love it or hate it. And what about me says that I'm classy?"

"The fact that you're the only one here not grinding on 

"The fact that you're the only one here not grinding on a guy."

"That doesn't mean I'm classy," I say as I look over and see Marcel glaring at us. It's easy to tell that he wants to come over and tell this guy to leave me alone, but David is holding him back, keeping him in their place.

"What's your name?"

I look back and the man in now leaning against the bar, closer to me. I lean against the bar as well before I tell him, "You can call me Vanoss."

"Awe, can't I get your real name?"

"Sorry, but that stays with me. What about you? What's your name?"

"Jonathan, but my friends call me Delirious."

"Well, Delirious," I say, leaning a bit closer to him. "Was there a reason for you to come over here?"

He looks down and pulls up a empty glass with a bit of foam left from a beer. "I just needed a refill."

"Really," I see, now leaning away from him. "I hope your friends have a good tolerance level then."

"What?"

"You haven't been drinking. I can tell that since there isn't a single drop on alcohol on your breath, so you've been pouring your beer in your friends' glasses."

He looks at me, shocked at first, but then I see an amused expression come up. "Impressive. Alright. I don't need a drink," he say, pushing the glass away from us. "I don't drink. I hate the taste of alcohol."

"Then why not say so," I say, kneeling down and pulling out a box of coke that I may have taken when Smitty wasn't looking. Once I open the box, I pull out a can and stand back up, grabbing a clean glass and pouring the soda into it. I then slide it over to him.

He takes the glass and says, "Thanks," before takes a sip. He then places the glass down and looks back to me. "So, how much would I have to pay to get you on my lap?"

I laugh and shake my head. "Sorry, but that isn't a rule we can break. I can't give lap dances. I can only serve drinks."

"That's a damn shame. I would give anything to have you just sitting in my lap."

"I get that a lot."

"Oh, so it isn't just a rule for tonight? You never give lap dances?"

"Nope."

"Why?"

I'm about to say something, but stop when I see Tyler pop up from behind Jonathan, and he already looks pissed. He then grabs Jonathan's shoulder and pulls him back. I bite my bottom lip, nervous, as I watch him whisper something into Jon's ear before pushing him back over to the couch. He then turns to me and leans over the bar, poking my chest roughly as he tells me, "Stop flirting with my friends! I love you and all, but I'm not about to let one of my friends throw his life away because he didn't know how old you are!"

I nod and quickly grab the next pitcher of beer before I run out and refill everyone's drink, now trying not to look over to Jonathan as I do so.

As hours start to go by, I try my hardest not to look over to Jonathan too much. Instead, when I'm not scanning the drinks, I'm watching the guys as they dance. It's by doing this, I realize something. Two of the dancers are spending a little extra time dancing with two guys.

Ohm will go and dance on everyone else, including Jonathan, however, before he finishes going around to all the other guys, he somehow ends up dancing on a bearded man. And Mini isn't exactly hiding the fact that he is spending a little extra time with Tyler. Then again, Tyler doesn't look like he's complaining.

I smirk as the next song comes on, and while all the others move onto another costumer, yet again, Ohm and Mini go back to their favorite boys. It's at this time that I decide to go out yet again and refill their drinks. So, I pour fresh beer into one of the empty pitchers and make my way back out into the party.

As I refill everyone's drinks, I can feeling someone staring at me, but I ignore the feeling, guessing it's either Marcel, Jonathan, or both of them. Once I get over to the couch, I check with Jonathan and make sure that he's good with his soda. When he says he's fine, I start walking back over to the bar, but stop when someone grabs my arm.

I start to turn back and let out a gasp as someone pulls me, causing me to drop my pitcher and fall onto someone's lap. The man starts laughing, the smell of alcohol is much stronger on his breath than many of the others, and he tightens his hold on me as I try to push myself off of him. 

I start struggling as the man mutters something and his grip on me tightens even more. He grabs my hip with one hand and tries to make me move on his lap. Once again, I try to push myself away from him, but when he tightens his hold on me again, I hiss out in pain his he digs his fingers into me.

I look over to where Marcel and David were and I see them start to run over to me. However, before they even make it to the front of the stage, I feel the man's grip loosen, and I quickly jump off of the man. When I look back, I see Jonathan holding the guy in a headlock.

Marcel quickly comes over to me and he makes me look at him. "Are you okay," he asks me, a worried expression on his face.

"I'm fine," I say, looking back to Jonathan and the guy. David gets to them and he pulls Jonathan off of the guy before he forces him into his feet.

"That's it," Marcel yells over the music. "Party's over!" He pull out a little gold button from his pocket and presses it. The music instantly cuts off and the lights come on, making the black and gold room shine brighter than I thought it would.

I look behind me and see all the dancers stop what they were doing and jump off of the people they were entertaining. When Mini gets off of Tyler, I see him quickly jump up as well and run over to us. He looks in between the man and myself before he asks, "What happened?!"

"You're friend here broke a important rule," Marcel tells him. "Don't touch the drink boy."

"We caught him forcing Vanoss on his lap and he was trying to make him move on him," David explains.

Tyler glares at the man and growls, "You Irish fuck."

"What the fuck did I do," David asks, confused and a little angry.

"Not you; the Irish fuck you're holding! Brian, you knew the fucking rules! Why the hell did you grab him?!"

"Save it for the parking lot," Marcel yells out, shaking his head. "Party's over, everyone get the fuck out!"

He starts motioning for everyone to leave and I watch as David and Tyler carry the drunk out of the room. Ohm and Mini run over to me and start asking me a million questions about what happened. However, I walk away from them and try to caught Jonathan before he is kicked out.

"Hey," I say just as he starts walking around the stage. He stops and turns to face me. "Thanks for-"

"You too, buzz cut," Marcel interrupts, grabbing Jonathan by his hoodie and pulling him until he's right in front of him.

"I'm going, mother fucker! Fuck off!"

"Wait, Marcel," I say, trying to grab his arm. "Can I just talk to him for a second?"

"Sorry, Vanoss, but that's a no. I need to get all these guys out right now. You guys wait here until we let you out."

I then watch as he pushes all of the boys out of the room, leaves us in here. "Well, that lasted a lot longer than normal," Lui says as he sits on the edge of the stage.

"Four and a half hours," Ohm says, looking at his phone. "At least we're getting a good amount today."

"What happened," Mini asks, walking over to the chair next to me and sitting down. His question instantly makes everyone turn their heads and look my way.

I sigh and lean against the stage. "One of the guys got really drunk and grabbed me. He forced me into his lap and tried to make me give him a lap dance."

"Holy shit, your hip," GaLm says. I look down and see that the guy grabbed my hip so hard that he left a big red hand print on me.

"Damn it, I hope that doesn't turn into a bruise." Just before I started working here, Panda made a rule stating that if we had bruises anywhere that's visible on us, we can't come back to work until it's completely healed.

"If it does, I'll see if I can work the floor and pole more until it's healed," Ohm says.

"Why bother," Lui says, rolling his eyes. "Panda already has me on the pole and floor more than you and Bryce put together. If it bruises over, I'll just share my tips with you, Evan."

"Thanks guys, but let's just hope that it's just red and that I'm not bruises."

I look down at my hip again and sigh. _And tonight was going so well._


	9. Chance Meeting

"Don't break a hip, old man," I laugh as I jog after Ohm.

Like every day, he and I are out for our morning jog, and we're having a little race. Last one to the cafe has to pay for our breakfast.

"I don't see how you can talk so much shit from back there," Ohm laughs back.

Shaking my head, I start to speed up a little, excepting Ohm to do the same, however, I quickly pass him. Once I do, I slow down to a jog and wait a couple seconds. He doesn't catch up.

Frowning, I slow to a walk and look behind me, "You know I don't like it when you let me win, so don't even try it."

He finally catches up to me and slows down to a walk. "I was just storing up my energy to beat you at the end."

"When we're less than a block from the cafe? No, you wanted to let me win."

He sighs, "Okay, yeah. But you can't blame me for wanting to let you win. I mean, your hip is still red from last night. It's obvious it's going to turn into a bruises, and once it starts to turn purple, you're sitting on the sidelines."

"That doesn't mean you have to let me win."

"I know, but still, I don't want you to pay for us again. You know I always win."

"You don't always win," I say as I roll my eyes.

"Yeah, you only win when I trip in the last block or when I'm so focus on you that I run into a trash can."

"Those still count."

"Either way, I'm not letting you pay. Even if Lui has offered to split his tips with you until you come back, I'm going to worry about you. You still have to pay off your car and buy food. Don't think I didn't notice how little you have in your fridge."

"You couldn't just watch TV until I got dressed," I ask in a annoyed tone.

"Not when you have a bruise forming."

I sigh and shake my head. "Fine. You can pay for the sandwiches until I get back to work. However, I want something in return."

"I'm paying for your food and I have to do something for you letting me do it?"

"Yes, because I didn't want you to do it in the first place. Now, after we get home from the run, I want you to teach me how to give a lap dance."

"What?"

"I've been doing really well on the pole, but we haven't even touched lap dancing. Come on; I want to learn."

He shakes his head and rolls it back, rubbing his eyes. "Fine; we'll practice when after we eat our sandwiches and shower."

"Alright," I yell out, jumping like a little kid. When I stop, I smirk and quickly say, "By the way, watch out for the trash can."

"Wha-" is all he has time to say as he trips over a trash can that was just put out when he rolled his head back. He yells out as he falls into the bike lane, boxes falling on top of him as the trash begins to fall on him.

Laughing, I pick up the can and start putting some of the boxes back in, but just as Ohm starts to pick himself up, I smile. "Last one to the cafe pays," I yell out before I take off for the cafe, which is around this upcoming corner and a few stores down. Ohm yells after me, calling me a cheater, but I keep running until I'm in front of the cafe.

Seconds later, Ohm runs up next to me and he gives me a playful push. "Fuck you, Evan. That was cheap."

"What can I say; I wanted the win. Now, I'll have my usual," I tell him in a cocky tone.

"Yeah, yeah," is all he says before he walks into the cafe.

Smiling, I walk over to one of the tables in front of the cafe and take a seat, pulling out my phone and sending Panda a quick text. After the party, we were just told to go home for the night, so I never really told him about what happened. I'm not sure if Marcel or David told him either, but I know that he has to know about it.

So, I text him, saying, **_"Hey, I'm not sure if you were filled in on what happened at the party last night, but there is something that I need to talk to you about when I come into work."_**

After I send the text, I put my phone down and let out a sigh. After all this time, I've never had to leave work for more than a day at most. Now, however, I'm not going to have a choice. I can't hide this from Panda, and he's made it clear that we can't even cover any bruises with make-up.

After about a minute, my phone rings, and I pick it up and read the text Panda replied with. **_"I understand that someone tried to make you dance on them. I was afraid that might have happened. Are you okay?"_**

**_"Yes sir; but that isn't what I needed to talk to you about. Well, fully."_** I send that text and take a deep breath before I write out the next part and send it shortly after. **_"When that customer grabbed me, sir, he left what might be turning into a bruise on my hip."_**

**_"Come to my office as soon as you come in today."_ **

Sighing again, I text back, **_"Yes sir,"_** and put my phone on the table before I start rubbing my forehead in frustration.

I put my hands down and grab my phone before I look into the cafe to see where Ohm is in line. From what I can see, he's only half way through the line. Turning back, I pull out my headphones from my pocket and plug it into my phone. I'm about to open my music library, when I get a weird feeling. It's a feeling I know far too well. The feeling of someone's eyes on me.

Pulling my phone back down, I slowly start to scan the area around me, but I don't see anyone. Then, a thought comes to my head. There are two places I haven't really looked. Inside the cafe, and behind me.

Turning my head to the right, I look into the cafe again and really focus on scanning the place. No one seems to be looking at me from in there. Which only leaves one place, which I didn't want to check, because if I was wrong, it only makes me look paranoid.

I start to turn my body to the side so I can look behind me, but jump when I feel someone tap on my shoulder. Heart pounding in my chest, I look over my shoulder and feel the air get ripped out of my chest. I wasn't expecting to see anyone from the party.

"Did I scare you," Jonathan laughs as he starts to walk in front of me. "I thought I saw you; I just couldn't tell from across the street."

"What are you doing here," I ask, shocked to see him.

"After we got kicked out of the club, we went to a hotel a couple blocks from here. Do you mind if I sit," he asks, grabbing the chair across from me and pulling it out a little.

"Uh, sure," I say, not sure what to do.

He pulls it out more and takes a seat, leaning towards me with a smirk on his face. "A couple of my friends took off after we left the club to pick up so more drinks while myself and a couple others went to the hotel. We ended up locking the guy that grabbed you in the bathroom for the night as well."

I chuckle a bit, but a couple questions come to my mind. "How did you guys lock him in there? Don't you lock the bathroom from the inside?"

"We pushed a chair in front of the door."

"Don't most bathroom doors open inwards?"

"Yeah. And that was one of them. He was so fucked up, he kept pushing the door open."

I start laughing at this point, shaking my head to try to keep the image from forming, otherwise I'm going to be laughing at nothing for fifteen minutes.

His blue eyes soften a bit before he says, "I'm sorry he did that to you. Even if we were at a club, no one should be grabbed or forced against anyone."

"It's fine. I'm fine, no one got hurt, and you guys aren't in trouble. By the way, thank you, for making him let me go."

"I wouldn't want anyone to hurt someone like you, so don't thank me. I would do it again in a heart beat."

My cheeks heat up and I look away from him, counting in my head before I take a deep breath and look back. "Nice one. That's a line I've never heard before."

He chuckles, "Oh I'm sure someone that looks as good as you has heard it all before."

"Multiple times," I say, flashing him a smile.

"I bet I can make you blush again."

I roll my eyes and look back to him, a confident smile on my face. "Alright. Try it."

He leans closer to me and asks, "Do you want to go out sometime?"

My eye widen and my face heats up again. Out of everything I've heard, someone asking me out hasn't been the something I've heard all that much.

"No," I quickly say, pulling myself away from him.

"Why not," he asks, pulling back as well. "I know where you work, I know what you do, and I don't care."

"It's not that," I say, looking away.

"Then what is it?"

_The fact that I'm underage is a big reason, _I think to myself. Tyler told me multiple times that none of his friends knew my age, and I know Panda would want it to stay that way. No one needs to know my real age.__

__"It's against the rules at my club. Employees aren't allowed to date the customers."_ _

__"I've been there one time, I highly doubt that counts as me being a customer. Besides, if I were to go back, it would only be for you."_ _

__"And that's even more of a reason why I shouldn't go on a date with you. I give you a reason to want to go back to the club."_ _

__The expression on his face quickly shows how unamused he is due to my answers, and he shakes his head. "Look, if I were to go there, it would be to try to talk to you. I wouldn't drink, or pay any of the other guys. Pretty sure Tyler would ban me from the damn place after the first damn day. So, I'll ask again now that you know that I'm not going to be a customer. Will you go out with me?"_ _

__I look to the side and bite my lip. _I would love to, but I'm only seventeen. It would technically be illegal for us to be together.__ _

__"Why would you want to go out with me? Aside from where I work and what I do, you don't even know me. Hell, you don't even know my name."_ _

__"That's why I want to go out with you. So I could get to learn more about you. Besides, I really want to know what your real name is. Even after getting Tyler fucked up, he wouldn't tell me a damn thing about you. He passed out before he even told me your name."_ _

__I laugh, "That sounds about right."_ _

__"Come on, Vanoss. Throw me a damn bone. Tell me your name and go on a date with me."_ _

__"That's more than a bone," I laugh._ _

__I'm about to tease him with the idea of giving him my name, but I get interrupted by Ohm walking out of the cafe and saying out loud, "Alright Evan; I got our food, let's go."_ _

__My eyes widen and I watch as Jon's unamused expression breaks and he starts to smirk. At this point, Ohm seemed to have noticed that I wasn't alone like normal, so he starts yelling out, "Evan? Oh, you mother fucking son of a bitch! You better not have left me again!"_ _

__"Save it," Jon says, his eyes now on Ohm. "I recognize you from the club. You're the guy that kept dancing on Luke. The guy with the beard, or the birthday bitch, whichever you want to call him."_ _

__I look over my shoulder and see Ohm looking at us with a awkward smile. "Oh yeah? Uh, well, it was nice seeing you again. Tell Luke I said hi. Sorry Vanoss," he then quickly says as he start backing away from us._ _

__"Ohm, I swear to god," I growl at him. Once I do, he turns away and runs around the corner, our food in his hands._ _

__"So, your name is Evan," Jon says. I turn around and see that his eyes are trained on me, and he has a more confident smile on. "Come on Evan, we won't be breaking any rules by going out. I just want to get to know you a little more."_ _

__As he talks, he slides one of his hands closer to my hand, which is on the table, and he gently caresses is with two of his fingers. I look down and watch his hand and it gently runs along the side of my hand and up my arm, only to go back down and run on the my hand again. Then, I look away, sadly._ _

__I want to say yes. He seems like a really nice guy, and he's been nothing but sweet to me. A bit pushy, but still sweet even then. However, Tyler told me that all of his friends were around his age, and he's only twenty. That means this guy is more than likely twenty or twenty-one. If we were to date, it would still be illegal. Or at least, it would be illegal for us to do anything that I'm sure he would want to do._ _

__However, "You're not going to stop asking until I say yes, aren't you," I ask, looking back up to him. Still smiling at me, he shakes his head somewhat slowly, keeping his eyes locked on me as if he thinks I'll disappear if he looks away. Sighing, I close my eyes and really think about what I'm about to do. There are so many things that can go wrong, but the knot in my stomach is begging me to just say it already._ _

__Opening my eyes, I give him a soft smile and say, "Alright; why not?"_ _

__His smile instantly grows bigger than before and I can see the excitement grow in his eyes. However, he tries to keep his cool and says, "Alright, great. Uh, why don't you give me your number so I can text you later?"_ _

__I then watch as he quickly pulls out his phone, locks it, and hands it to me after opening a new contact slot for me. After I type in my name and number, I save the information and give him back his phone. "Alright," I then say as I stand up, pulling my hand away from his. "I better go catch up with my friend. Text me or call me tomorrow, and I'll let you know when I'm free."_ _

__He nods and says, "Got it. I'll call you later."_ _

__After that, I walk over to the corner and look over, seeing Ohm leaning against it. He looks away from me and bites his lip. "Sorry about that man. I didn't know he was there."_ _

__"Of all the times you could have called me Vanoss, you choice that second to call me by my name."_ _

__"I know! I'm sorry!" Shaking my head, he and I start walking back down the street. "So, what happened?"_ _

__Before I can say anything, my phone starts to go off. When I pull it out of my pocket, I see an unknown number. Confused, I answer it. "Hello?"_ _

__"Alright, just wanted to make sure you didn't give me a fake number."_ _

__I stop and blink, before I take a couple steps back and poke my head around the corner. There I see Jon, leaning against the chair I was sitting at with his phone to his ear._ _

__Shaking my head, I laugh and say, "Idiot," before I hang up on him._ _

__He put his phone in his pocket before he turns his body towards the door and yells out, "I'll call you tomorrow," and walks into the cafe._ _

__I turn back to Ohm and see that he's now smirking at me. "What?"_ _

__"I haven't see you with a smile that big since you got the job at the club."_ _

__"Shut up," I then say before I start walking again._ _

__He keeps up with me, and when I look, his smirk is now gone. "Does he know how old you are?"_ _

__"I don't think so. He barely learned my name now."_ _

__"Evan, he's in college. He could get in a lot of trouble."_ _

__"I know, but he just wasn't taking no for an answer."_ _

__"He would have if you told him you can't even stay out past ten at night by yourself."_ _

__"Shut up!"_ _

__He starts laughing before he starts jogging ahead of me. "Come on; I want to eat before we start learning the art of L.Ds."_ _

__"Art of L.Ds? Just because you try to make it sound fancy, doesn't make teaching me how to dance on people's laps any better."_ _

__We then start laughing as we both pick up in speed and start racing back to the apartments. It's not even noon, and I can already tell today is going to be a long day._ _


	10. Lesson One

"Thanks for agreeing to help us, Smitty," I say as I pull out a chair from Ohm's room.

"No problem," he says as he walks into the apartment. "Besides, you have no idea how many people would kill for the change to get some one on one time with you guys, let alone a lap dance. This would give me some serious bragging rights and get me some more tips from our customers," he laughs as he sits in the chair.

Ohm rolls his eyes and says, "Of course that's why you literally ran out of you apartment when I asked for you help."

Shaking my head, I walk over to the stereo, plugging in my iPod and I start scrolling through my music. "By the way, Smitty," I say as I look for something good to play. "How are things going with that guy you met online?"

"Pretty good," he tells us. "He actually told me he was thinking of moving down here so we could meet in person."

"You told him about the club rules, right," Ohm asks.

Smitty sighs and says, "Not yet. He just seems so excited, I don't want to tell him."

I then turn around and say, "You have to at some point. It's going to hurt him even more if he tries to move in with you and you tell him once he gets to the door that he can't stay. Or if he tries to work for the club and he finds out that you guys would have to break up."

"Or that if he comes around enough, you guys would have to break up because he would be considered a customer."

"Okay! I get it! I have to tell him, I know. I promise, I'll tell him soon."

Looking back to my iPod, I finally find a good playlist of songs and start it up, turning to volume up enough for the music to fill the room, but low enough so that we don't have to yell over it to talk to each other. Ohm then tells me to go sit on the couch, which I do. He then moves Smitty and the chair up a bit so that I could get a better view of them.

"An important thing to remember," Ohm tells me as he steps in front of Smitty. "Is that lap dances are mainly used for teasing. Although a lot of the guys will get on the customers and starts grinding on them, it isn't the only way to dance. Some guys will barely touch the customers they're dancing on, and sometimes that works, if done right. What I like to do though is mix those together." He looks to Smitty and asks him, "You ready?"

"Let's just start this so I can get blue balled and go home."

I chuckle, but quickly stop when Ohm turns away from Smitty and I see his body seemingly loosen up when he takes one quick breath. The three of us go completely silent, making the music feel much louder than it had less than the minute ago.

His face seems to relaxes a lot more, his eyes becoming half closed and his lips parting just a tiny bit, barely being able to be noticed. His hands move up to his hair and he gently starts to mess with it as he squats down, looking like he's about to sit on Lucas' lap. However, Ohm is just far enough away from him that he is barely touching his knees when he squats down, but I can tell that that's what he wanted. As soon as his ass is close enough that Lucas can feel him, he swings his hips to the side and stands back up. He does this same thing three more times, swinging his hips from side to side as he moves before he turns around and gets onto his knees. Even from here I can tell that Ohm has locked eyes with him, and it's got Lucas' attention fully on him.

Ohm places his hands on Lucas' thighs and he slides them up, standing and leaning towards him as he does so. For a second, it looks like Lucas tries to lean forward towards Ohm to kiss him, but before their lips can touch, Ohm pulls away, putting a hand on Lucas' chest and pushing him back in his seat. Ohm then starts to walk around him, keeping his hand on Lucas' chest as he goes behind him.

Once Ohm is behind him, he leans forward a bit, sliding his other hand onto his shoulder before sliding both of his hands down his chest and onto his stomach. He then drags his nail up Lucas' body before bringing them back up to his shoulders.

Ohm then walks to the side of the chair and turns his back on him. He then sits in between Lucas' leg and throws his body back, laying across his lap. As Ohm then starts to lift his upper body up, making him sit up, he runs his hands through his hair, pushing it away from his face. When he's completely up, he then gets off of Lucas again, spinning around and moving into front of him again. He then places his hands on Lucas' knees and as he sways his hips from side to side, bringing his body lower to the ground as he moves, he keeps his eyes locked with Lucas and he slowly spreads Lucas legs.

He then stands up and looks over to me. "Okay, now it's your turn."

"Wait, what," Lucas yells out, his face somewhat red. "That's it? But you didn't even give me a full on lap dance! You more or less used me as a prop and danced around me!"

"Hey, I am not going to give you a full on dance until he knows how to at least start it off! That's what that was. The start for dance. Besides that, a lap dance is used for teasing." He then leans over and smirks at Smitty. "And were you teased?"

"Fuck you, ya bitch."

"I'll take that as a yes." He then turns back to me and says, "Now, come on. I want you to try to recreate what I had just done before we move on."

I nod and jump off the couch, walking up to Smitty. I turn away from him and take a deep breath, trying to relax.

"I'm already going to stop you right now," Ohm says, walking in front of me, his back pressed against the pole in the middle of the room. "You need to relax a lot more than that. The person you're giving the dance to is going to like it a lot more if you seem to enjoy it just as much as he is. So, you can't seem tensed or nervous. Take a couple more deep breaths and try to calm down a bit more. Then start doing what I had done."

I nod again and shut my eyes, taking in a couple more deep breaths. As I do so, I start imagining that I'm in the park my parents always took me to when I was a little kid. Whenever I want to relax, I always think about this place. The place where my family went to every weekend. The place where we felt like nothing could break us.

Once I feel like my mind is cleared up, I start to picture the club in my mind. No one is around me, and I can hear the music more clearly. It's much louder than it was just seconds ago, and in my uniform, I feel more confident and more comfortable in my own skin. The only people around me are my friends, and they all make me feel like I truly belong here. They make me feel like I have a home. They make me feel like I have a family again.

With this in my mind, when I open my eyes just a little bit, and I can see myself still at the club. I then start to run my hands through my hair and squat down until I feel a leg just barely hit my ass. The second I feel it, I swing my hip to the side and slowly stand up. I do this three more times, swinging my hips from side to side before I turn around.

The second I lock eyes with Lucas, I instantly feel my body tense up again. "Stop," Ohm then says, putting a hand on my shoulder. "What's wrong, Evan?"

I take a deep breath and walk back to the couch. "I don't know. It just feels weird dancing on someone I consider a friend."

"What," Smitty quickly asks. "How is it weird? If anything, this should be easier than dancing on some random fifty year old with a har-"

"Thank you, Smitty," Ohm quickly interrupts.

"I don't know," I say, turning around and sitting down. "I have no problem dancing on the pole or doing anything in front of you guys, but dancing on you and using you like that, it just feels weird."

Ohm crosses his arms, putting on of have hands on his chin and curling his finger up to his lips. "I think I might know what's wrong," he then says after a moment of silence. "You might be connecting lap dances with a more intimate thing."

"What?"

"You may not realize it, but you might think that doing something like giving someone a lap dance is a lot more intimate than we think it is. Since I've been doing this for a lot longer, I no longer see any of these things as a romantic or intimate action. I don't think of this as something I should be doing with someone I care about. It's just a action I do to get paid."

"But, I've never had a problem dancing on pole in front of everyone."

"Not true; you did have a bit of a problem before, but that was different. You were shy or embarrassed about dancing in front of everyone. However, you didn't know all of us as well as you do now. You've gotten closer to us, and have started to see us differently."

I look down and bite my lip, nervously. _They've made me feel like I have a family again._

"So what does he have to do," Smitty asks, pushing himself to the edge of the seat.

"He need to keep practicing on us. He needs to find a way to see it as if it's a nature thing to do, and separate it from the idea that it's an intimate action." Smitty pushes himself back in the seat and I walk in front of him. "Try to relax again. Don't worry about me stopping you this time. I want you to go through the whole dance without stopping.

I nod and shut my eyes again. After taking me back to the park and to the club, I feel myself completely relax again, and I start the dance. After swinging my hips from side to side four times, I turn around drop to my knees, locking eyes with Lucas again. Instantly, I can feel my body start to tense up.

Trying to ignore the tension, I place my hands on his thighs and start pushing myself up, sliding my hands up his thighs as I do so. Unlike with Ohm, Lucas doesn't lean towards me when I lean close to him. Due to that, when I put my hand on his chest, it doesn't have as much of the same effect that it had when Ohm did it.

I continue to go through the dance, ending it on my knees in front of him, and separating his legs. Then, I silently curse to myself before I stand up, feeling awkward for actually going through with the dance.

"You can feel how tensed that dance was, right," Ohm asks me. I nod and look back to Smitty. "And it was clear that you weren't as into it as you were before, right."

Smitty shakes his head. "It felt like he was forced to do it; like he wasn't enjoying a second of it. While you danced on me, it felt like you were enjoying it a lot more, and you wanted to do it."

"This just shows us how much work we have to do."

I take a deep breath and say, "Then let's keep working. I don't want to keep giving shit lap dances, and I'm not the type to just give up."

"That's bullshit," Smitty quickly says. "I've been playing games with you for almost two years, and I've seen you give up so many times."

"That's different. When I give up in those games, I go out of my way to fuck everyone else over for fun."

"And that's why I try to stay as far away from you as I can get when you start to lose."

"Save this for later guys," Ohm interrupts. "Let's just keep practicing. Hopefully, with enough time-" Before he can even finish his sentence, we hear someone slam into his front door, causing us to jump and turn to the door.

After a couple of seconds, we can hear jiggling on the other side, before the door swings open and Bryce falls into the apartment, landing on his hands and knees. He then looks up at Ohm and smiles. "Ohmie! You're finally home!"

"Bryce," Ohm says loudly, anger hinting behind the worry in his voice. I watch as Ohm runs over to Bryce and helps him up, but I walk over to the stereo at the same time, taking my phone off. "Are you seriously already drunk? It's barely noon!"

"I had to get a drink, okay mom! We have important guest coming over!"

I see Ohm's eyes widen and hear a small gasp come from him. "When were they coming? How did you find out before me?"

"Because, they called me after you left. They'll be here in an hour."

"Well, that's an hour that's going to be spent trying to get you to sober your ass up! I'm not going to be playing host while you're struggling to sit your ass up!" He then pulls him towards their bedroom and pushes him in. "Go take a nap or a fucking shower!"

He then takes a deep breath before he turns to us. "Sorry guys, but it looks like I have to cut this lesson short today. I have to take care of Bryce right now, but I'll text you when I can help you again, Evan. Smitty, will you help us out the next time as well?"

"Yeah, it's no problem," Smitty tells him as he gets out of his seat and walks over to me. He then wraps a arm around me and starts leading me out of the apartment.

After we leave the apartment, I say my thank yous and goodbyes to Smitty before I go to my own apartment. I sigh when I walk in and wonder over to my couch, sitting down and running my hands through my hair in annoynce. I'm disappointed in myself. I feel like I'm failing something that I know is extremely important for my future at the club.

Panda never wants to have a customer to leave unhappy or unsatisfied with anything at the club. So, he pushes for only the best to go out on the floor. I may be popular now, but when I'm eighteen, I know everyone will want to see me on the pole. I know they will want me to give them lap dances. If I can't even give my friends a good show, then how will I be able to do it with people I don't even know.

My stomach starts turning, forming knot after knot, making me feel sick from being so nervous. I need to find a way to push pass this. I can't let this hold me back. I need to push through this. I don't want to let Panda down.

***Later That Night***

The moment I get to work, I don't even put on my uniform, I just walk up to the second floor and walk into Panda's office. When he sees me walk in, he gets up from behind his desk and walks in front of it, leaning against it. I walk over and stop in front of him.

"Let me see it," is all he tells me. Sighing, I grab the bottom of my shirt and pull it up to my chest, showing him dark red mark that is slowly starting to change color. "Fuck," He says as he reaches over and gently rubs his thumb against it. "I was hoping it wouldn't look this bad already."

"What should I do," I ask him, already knowing what he's going to say.

"It's too dark. It's going to be too noticeable. I wish I didn't have to say this, but I have no choice. I'm sorry, Evan; but you're going to have to go home for the night. I want you to take pictures of your bruise every night, however. I want you to send them to me so I can keep an eye on it and we can have you come back the second it looks like it completely healed."

"Yes sir," I say, sadly.

"Hey," he says, reach over and making me look at him. "It's only going to be for a week, maybe two at the most. I know you never like taking time off from work, but we can't bend the rules. Just try to think of this as a vacation or something. Take this time to go have fun, and relax. We'll see you when you come back, okay?"

"Yes sir."

I sigh again and walk out of the office, walking back downstairs and out of the building. When I get into my car, I feel tears start to stream down my face, frustrated with myself for something that wasn't even my fault. I'm going to be out of work for a week, because of something that some drunk did to me.

_I'm so fucking stupid. I should have paid more attention to everyone at that fucking party. I should have seen him trying to grab me. I should have fought back more. I should have gone the other way to get back to the bar. There's so many things I could have done, but because I was so weak, because I was so stupid, I got grabbed, and I got hurt._


	11. Protecting from Weirdos 101

Frustrated with myself, I throw myself onto my couch and groan loudly, "Why do I suck so much?!"

"Evan, I'm not going to tell you this again," Ohm says as he walks over to me. "Stop saying you suck; you don't suck."

"Though you might want to change that by the time you get a boyfriend," Smitty laughs, causing Ohm to turn to him and yell at him.

I simply groan again, wanting to bash my head against the wall with how annoyed I am with myself.

"Come on, Evan. I know it's frustrating-"

"It's not just that," I say, pushing myself up and turning off the music, which had been playing in the background. "Yeah, I'm annoyed that I can't even get pass the start of giving Smitty a fucking lap dance, but I'm still pissed about this," I say as I lift up my shirt, showing the now purple bruise on my hip. "I'm such an idiot for not paying better attention to those guys at the party. And now, I can't even go to work until it's healed."

"It's not your fault, Evan. Everyone gets grabbed at the club."

"Yeah," Smitty jumps in. "Even I've had a couple guys try to reach over to grab my ass while I was getting someone a drink. It happens."

"But no one else has a bruise on them."

"That doesn't mean it hasn't happened in the past. I can't tell you how many times I've been grabbed so hard that I've been bruised on my arms, legs, and waist. It happens, Evan. It's nothing to be upset over."

I sigh and rub my hands over my face. "Well why do I feel like I'm being punished for this."

"It's not a punishment, Evan. You're just getting some time off. Something that you honestly needed before this happened."

"And it's only until you heal. It's okay to kick back and relax for a week or whatever," Smitty adds in.

"He's right, Evan," Ohm says as he now sits next to me and starts rubbing my back. "Besides, you know you can use this time to, I don't know, look into going to school online like we talked about."

I roll my eyes and push Ohm off of me. Over the past couple of months, he's been trying to talk me into taking online classes so I could finish up high school. Something that hasn't really sparked any interest for me, but, like Brock, he won't drop it.

"I just want to work," I say, annoyed by the mention of going back to high school. Something that before, everyone told me I didn't need to do.

"I'm just saying, it's an option. I went back to high school after Panda started helping me out, and it could give you more to do when you aren't working or doing this."

"But I would much rather practice this than go back to school. I have a better future with this, and you guys told me before that I didn't need to go back to school to do this."

Ohm opens his mouth to say something, but I quickly turn the music back on and jump in front of Smitty. "Look, let's just drop this and get back to practice."

He then sighs and stands up. "Alright. From the to-" before he can finish his sentence, my phone starts ringing.

A bit confused, I walk over to my stereo, pull my phone off of the aux cord, and check to see who's calling me. My eyes widen when I see Jonathan's name on my screen. _I forgot he was going to call me today!_

Putting my phone behind my back, I start walking towards my bedroom as I smile to Ohm and Smitty. "I've- uh- got to take this. Give me a minute," I then quickly say before I rush into my room and lock the door.

I then answer the call and bring my phone up to my ear. "Hello?"

"Hey; did I catch you at a bad time?"

"Oh no, I'm just, hanging out with some friends."

"If you want, I can call back later."

"No, it's fine. Just, one second," I say before I pull my elbow up and slamming it into the door behind me. "Get away from the fucking door, asshole!"

"Fuck you, ya bitch," Smitty yells through the door.

I sigh before I walk over to my bed and lay down. "Sorry. So, what did you call me for?"

I hear him laughing in the background before he says, "I wanted to know if you were free tonight. I was thinking about taking you out like I said I would."

Bringing in my finger up to my mouth, I gently bite it, trying to think this through. Tyler and Panda will not be happy with this idea, but, there is definitely something about this guy that just makes me want to learn more about him.

"Yeah, I'm free. What were you thinking?"

"How about dinner? I know a diner we can go to. It's not a five star restaurant, but its a nice place to relax at, the food is good, and since its a weekday, there won't be a shit ton of people there."

"You've thought this through," I laugh.

"Hey, it's better to have a place in mind rather than spending an hour trying to come up with an idea for a date."

"Awe, you don't want to be on the phone with me for an hour," I joke.

I hear him laugh again on the other end before he says, "Believe me, I would love to be on the phone with you for an hour, but from what Tyler has told me, I'm sure your friends would get a bit, uh, what's the word I'm looking for?"

As he says that, I grab one of my shoes from the floor and pull back. "Intrusive," I then say before I throw the shoe at my door, causing whoever was trying to listen in through the door to fall back with a thump.

"Protective! That was the word!"

"Wait, Tyler told you about me?"

"Well, sort of. I told him that I saw you at the cafe yesterday and he told me to stay away from you. He also told me that he would let your friends know about me so that if I were go near the apartments without him, they had to keep me away from you."

"Did you tell him I gave you my number?"

"Hell no. That piggy bastard would have destroyed my phone to make sure I lose your number."

I can't help but bounce a bit in excitement as I say, "Oh, you're a gamer too."

"How did you get that from what I said?"

"I've played GTA 5 with Tyler before. I've seen that mask."

He laughs again before saying, "Awesome. We'll have to play something together sometime."

"That sounds like another date."

"We'll talk about that after tonight. Soon, since your friends will be watching over you, how about we meet at the diner? I'll send you the address tonight and see you around six."

"Sounds like a plan. I'll see you tonight."

"Can't wait."

Once I hang up the phone, I fall back and just smile at nothing. As I said before, there is something about Jonathan that makes me want to learn more about him. And for some reason, he wants to do the same for me. Just talking to him for a few minutes was enough to brighten my day and turn me into a stereotypical teenager in love... Then again... That's what I am.

I can feel my smile fade from my face as the fact that I'm only seventeen hits me so hard that I feel my stomach twist. I'm so close to being legal, but it can still destroy his life. It can make him listed as a pedophile for the rest of his life. As long as he doesn't know though, he should be good.

Groaning, I push myself off of my bed and walk over to my door, unlocking and opening it in one swift motion, catching both Smitty and Ohm with their hands and ears in the same position they would be in when they were trying to listen in on me.

"Fuck you both."

They smile at me before quickly turning around and walking back to our little set up. When I walk over, I end up sitting on the couch next to Ohm. "Was that the guy from yesterday," Ohm asks.

"Yeah... He wants to take me out on a date tonight."

"Does he know," Smitty quickly asks.

"No; it's against the rules for you guys to say anything about my age, and I've just met him. We haven't really had the chance to talk yet, and... I don't know if I want to tell him just yet."

"Evan, that's dangerous," Ohm scolds me.

"I know, but, who knows. This might just be a one night type of deal."

"You don't think that though, and we can tell. You've never shown interest in anyone you've met at the club until you saw him."

"Wait," Smitty jumps in. "This is a guy you've met at the club?"

"Yeah," I say, looking down at my hands. "He was one of Tyler's friends at the party. He also pulled the guy off of me."

"Dude, that's really dangerous and against the rules."

"He just went one time. He isn't a customer yet."

"Okay, but it's still dangerous."

"How?"

"Did you not know what happened to Bryce?"

"... Do you mean, that guy that stalked him two years ago?"

"Yes. That guy wouldn't leave him alone and added so much stress and fear into his life that he considered leaving the club."

"But he didn't and it stopped two years ago as well. From what everyone told me, it was something the guy did for a year, and then he slowly stopped."

"He didn't just stop out of no where, Evan," Ohm tells me. "Apparently, one of the cops, that's our customer now, saw him trying to follow Bryce from the club, and he was arrested for stalking and trespassing. It was by luck that it stopped, but he would have kept going if that cop didn't show up."

"What's the point of bringing this up now," I ask, annoyed. "Since I started working at the club, the worse I've seen is Bryce getting wasted at work, and Brock snorting coke. There hasn't been another stalking, and aside from grabbing, none of us have gotten-"

"Just because you aren't seeing it, Evan, doesn't mean it doesn't happen," Smitty suddenly shouts, causing me to jump. Ohm and I stare at him in shock and confusion. I've never heard him yell like that before. It was a lot more serious than when he and I would play together.

"Smitty-" Ohm starts, but he's quickly cut off.

"I know, but he should know the truth! You and I both know that it's wrong to keep this from him!"

"What are you guys talking about," I ask, now a little scared.

Ohm and Smitty stare at each other for what feels like hours; neither of them saying a word. After a while, Ohm sighs and says, "Fine." Before he and Smitty both turn to me.

"Evan," Ohm says, his eyes locked on his hands. "Do you know how many people have left the club since you started working?"

I look off for a second and start thinking back to when I first start, listing off all the names of the guys in my head. After a while, I answer, "About fifteen."

"Well... There's something we haven't told you, because we didn't want to scare you... Ten of the guys that left, left us because they were being stalked by customers."

My jaw instantly drops to the floor when I hear this. "What?!"

"Ten of the guys left because some jackass from the club started stalking them," Smitty repeats. "They weren't as bad as Bryce's stalker, however, they couldn't go anywhere without having someone following them."

I shake my head in disbelief. "How did I not notice this?"

"If you weren't looking for the signs, there's no way you could have known, Evan. That's the thing with stalkers. To everyone around you, they look like some random guy. Him staring at you could be him staring off into space, or he's just watching something or looking at something and you're just in the way. It's not like in the movies where the stalker is trying to hide to make sure you don't see him, but it's incredibly obvious to everyone around you."

My eyes quickly widen as I think about yesterday. I was just so happy and shocked to see him that it didn't even cross my mind. "What if Jonathan is a stalker too?! What if he's been watching me for a lot longer than I thought?! What if he tries to kill me?!"

"I knew this would fucking happen," Ohm says before he puts an arm around me. " Evan, look; I know learning about this is scary, but you shouldn't worry. You know that we would never let anything happen to you."

"That's why I wanted to tell you this," Smitty adds in as he walks over and sits beside me on the couch. He then wraps his arm around me and says, "You're like a little brother to me. The last thing I want is for you to get hurt. Hearing about this worries me."

"But as long as you know how to protect yourself, it would make us worry less."

"What do you mean," I ask, looking between them.

Ohm pulls away from me and jumps off of the couch, standing in front of Smitty and I. "Lap dancing practice is done for today. Now, its time to know 'Protecting from Weirdos 101'."

"Its so easy to tell that you wanted to be a fucking teacher man," Smitty laughs.

"Shut up. Now, the first thing you want to do is pay attention to your surroundings. This will rarely happen, but its important to drill this into your head. When you are in a parking lot late at night, and you are the only one there, you should always have your guard up. Have your keys in your hand before you leave whichever building you're in. If you think someone is following you or you just do not feel safe, take your keys and put the in between your knuckles. The second you get into your car, make sure to lock the door.  
The next thing we will talk about is if you are driving. While you are driving, especially at night, keep your eyes on your mirrors. If you see a car behind you, keep it in mind. Try speeding up or slowing down. If you think that car is following you, make a random turn the second you can, but make sure you are on the main roads. Go around a random block a couple times. If the car is still following you, call the police and tell them what's happening, and what car you are driving. If you can, also let them know anything you can about the car that's following you."

"Should I be writing this down?"

"I'll type it up and print it out for ya," Smitty tells me, patting my back. "Moving onto the next big thing, how would he know if the guy is a creep?"

"That one is a bit tricky," Ohm says. "However, since you're going on a date with this guy, you'll have a little bit of an easier time getting a feel for him. The first thing you're going to look for is how different you guys are. If everything you like is what he likes, that's a red flag. You guys are different. You live in different worlds. He should like different things, but for you guys to be in a relationship, there should be a couple of things that you both like. Just keep track on how many things there are.  
Another red flag would be if he knows something about you that you didn't tell him. Even if he is friends with Tyler, I don't think he would tell him something personal about you."

"Don't forget about what we've taught you at the club. Whenever you get a drink, never leave it unintended. And if, God forbid, you start to feel dizzy after having a drink, run to the bathroom, lock the door, and call us. I will jump over the bar and run out of the build if anything happened."

"And I would not hesitate to jump off the stage, even if I'm only wearing underwear."

I let out a soft sigh and smile at the two. "Thanks guys."

Before anymore words could be said however, we jump when we hear a loud pounding on my door, shaking the walls around it, and causing one of my pictures to fall off of the wall. My heart stops as a flashback of me pressed against my bedroom door comes to play. The sound of glass breaking as pictures fall around me. The sound of my door slowly starting to break, but it's trying so desperately to stay up. My dad shouting at me to stop being a little bitch.

_Don't cry! Don't cry! Don't cry! Don't cry! Don't cry! Don't cry! Don't cry! Don't cry! Don't cry! Don't cry! Don't cry! Don't cry! Don't cry! Don't cry! Don't cry! Don't cry! Don't cry! Don't cry! Don't cry! Don't cry! Don't cry! Don't cry! Don't cry! Don't cry!_

"EVAN!"

_Weak._

"Holy shit," I hear another voice say, but I instantly recognize it. Looking towards my door, I see Smitty and Tyler, staring over to me.

Once Ohm sees that I had snapped back to reality, he gives me a tight hug and whispers, "You're okay. You're safe. Don't worry."

I then hug him back and take a deep breath to try to calm my nerves. "I know."

After a short while, he lets me go before he turns to Tyler. "What the fuck did we tell you?! Be careful with what you do around Evan!"

"Hey, no one told me what I couldn't do around him! How was I supposed to know pounding on a door would have done something like this to him?!"

"Stop it," I yell out, not wanting to hear anyone fighting anymore. "Look, let's just drop this for now! You guys can talk about this later!"

The room goes silent after I yell at the two to stop. Smitty simple walks over to me and wraps his arms around me, trying to calm me down. After a couple of minutes, Tyler comes over and apologizes for causing my attack. I just tell him that's it's fine, before I ask him, "Why did you come over?"

He struggles to put his mind back together for a bit, before he stands up straight and clears his throat. "Right! I needed to talk to you three!"

"About what," Smitty asks.

"About you and my friend," he then says, glaring at me, trying to intimidate me but failing.

"What," I ask.

"I heard that you ran into my friend, Delirious yesterday."

"Delirious?"

"Jonathan!"

"Oh, him! Yeah. I ran into him for a couple of minutes while Ohm and I were on our morning run. I didn't even see him until he popped up right beside me."

"Evan, stop it! I'm not going to play this game, and I'm not going to tell you again! Don't talk to my friends! Jonathan is twenty. You are three years younger than him."

"That's not a big age gap."

"When you fall under the age of consent, yes it is! I don't want him to get in trouble! It's bad enough that Brian grabbed you the way that he did! The last thing I want, is for you to get hurt, and my friend to fuck over his life."

He then turns his attention to Smitty and Ohm. "As for you guys, I want you to help me make sure these two don't talk. I'm sure you guys can understand where I'm coming from with this, right?"

"Yeah," Smitty quickly says. "And you're right. The last thing we want is to get anyone hurt."

"I saw him at the party," Ohm adds in. "So, if I see him hanging around here, I'll let you know right away."

"Thank you. Alright, I have to go talk to a couple more people."

After that, Tyler walks out of my apartment, closing the door behind him. Ohm then looks back to me and gives me a sly smile. "If things work out between you two, don't bring him around here."

"And don't get hurt if this don't work out," Smitty adds in, the same sly smile on his face. "After all, you'll have plenty of men to pick from when you get older."

I smile and guy the two. "Thanks guys."

"Alright, now, after that short break," Ohm says before jumping back in front of Smitty and I. "Let's continue our lesson on dealing with weirdos."

"We're still not done?"

He and Smitty laugh before he tells me, "Oh Evan; we've barely scratched the surface."


	12. First Date

**"I just pulled up to the diner."** I send the text Ohm before I send another text, this one for Jonathan. **"Hey, I just got to the diner."**

I sit in my car and just stare at my phone, waiting for someone to reply to me. The second I see my screen light up, I open the text before I even see who the message was from.

**"I'm in front of the diner with a friend that works here. Come over."**

My heart beats harder in my chest than it did a few seconds ago. My stomach is twisting, and my palms start to feel a bit clammy. _I haven't felt this nervous since the first time I went to meet Panda._

As soon as that thought comes to my mind, I see that I had gotten another message. This one being from Ohm. He wishes me luck and tells me to text him if anything happens. I then take a deep breath before I step out of my car and start walking over to the diner. As he said, I see him leaning against the wall in front of it, with another man standing next to him. I take a deep breath and put myself in my two favorite places to help make me look more relaxed. Then, with a smile on my face I walk over.

I see Jonathan put a cigarette to his lips as he talks to his friend. However, when he sees me walking over to him, he drops it to the ground and stomps it out, pushing the smoke out from his mouth, before he takes a couple steps towards me, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. "Hey, great to see you again."

"You too," I say, wrapping my arm around his waist.

He then walks me over to his friend and says, "Mark, this is my date I told you about, Evan. Evan, this is my friend, Mark."

"Wait, weren't you one of the dancers at Luke's party the other day?"

My eyes widen and I feel my face heat up a bit. I may be happy with working at the club, but it is extremely embarrassing to get noticed in public. According to the others, it's something we'll never get use to, but that's more for a good reason. It's very rare that someone will have the balls to say 'hey, aren't you that stripper I saw at this club' in front of others. However, it has happened. Right now just so happens to be an example of that time.

"Uh, yeah, kind of. I was the drink boy."

"Really?"

I then watch him lean over and whisper something into Jonathan's ear. A couple seconds later, I then see Jonathan push him away and shake his head. "Fuck off, man. It's not like that."

He puts up his hands and laughs before saying, "Alright. Alright. I'm just saying. Also, I have to get back to work. I'll meet you two inside and take your orders then." With that, he walks around to the back.

I look over and ask Jonathan, "What did he tell you?"

"He was just being stupid. Don't worry about it. Come on, let's just get something to eat."

He gently pulls me close to him as he starts to turn towards the door. Although I'm still curious, I push it to the back of my mind and follow him into the diner. Right when we walk in, I see that it really isn't much. There are a few people in here, mainly old couples and a few men in uniform. However, they aren't ones that I've seen hanging around the club.

Jonathan leads me over to a both a little away from the door and sits across from me before he slides over a menu. I scan it for a few seconds and put in mind of what it is that I want.

Then, I look over to him and see that he is just staring at me. "What," I ask, a bit on edge after the conversation I had with Ohm and Smitty this morning.

"I don't really get it."

"What?"

"I don't get how someone like you could do what you do for a living. Don't get me wrong, you're hot, but why work at a club."

I look down and scratch the back of my neck, nervously. "Uh, well, that's kind of a long story."

"I asked you out so I could hear it. Like I said before, I want to learn more about you, so, even if we're here until your club closes, I want to hear it."

I chuckle and look down to my lap. I don't want to give too much about my past away, but I don't want to lie to him more than I already am.

"Alright, well, I'm actually from a few towns over. Things at my home weren't really the best, so I left before I was really ready. When I came here, I had no money, and no where to go. I spent the first month or two sleeping in a park not too far away from where I live now. Then, one day, it was raining, and I was trying to sleep under an overpass to keep dry. Then, someone saved me. A person I call a friend now. Someone who works at the club.  
Not only did he give me a place to stay, but he helped me get a job at the club. If it wasn't for him, I don't think I would have made it through the rest of that year."

"How long ago was that?"

"About two years ago."

"Oh shit. That's a lot for anyone to have to go through."

I look up and see that he has a more worried expression. I see that he's about to say something else, but before he had the chance, his friend popped up beside us and asked us for our orders. I smile and tell him what I was going to get, and Jon did the same. We then waited for him to walk away before we turn back to each other.

"So, how are things working at the club? From what Tyler tells me, it's really strict there."

"A little, but we are the best gay strip club in town, so, it's a given that we're strict. We have a few rules that are a must that we need to follow, and we can't really be lenient with them. A few of the rules are that we aren't allowed to date customers, as I've told you before. We aren't allowed to date other employees, for obvious reasons. We have to maintain our bodies to keep them looking the way that they look or we could get fired-"

"Wait what?"

"As I said, we're known as the best, and we get more customers if we look the way that we do."

"Well, that seems like a bit much, don't you think? I mean, don't you guys get a lot of college kids coming in trying to pay their way through school or something? Or what about when you guys get older? As you age, your body doesn't work the way that it use to."

"Doesn't matter. We do what we do, keep our bodies in check, and if we don't, we either quit and go somewhere else, or we get fired."

"That has to be against some type of law."

"It wouldn't matter," I say, looking down at my phone. "Since I've been there, no one has ever been fired. We all understand the rules, don't argue with them, and do what we do. Besides, it's pretty hard to let your body go with our work. You'd actually have to try in order to do that. Not only that, but the guys all quit when they get older and think they aren't doing as well as they had been doing. It's a pride thing."

I quickly make up a text and send it to Ohm, telling him, **"He's asking a lot of questions about the club. Should I just keep answering them or try to change the subject?"**

"Okay," he then says, causing me to drop my phone and look back to him with a sweet smile on my face. "Well, what about your future? Where do you see yourself later in life?"

I think for a second before I ask, "What about you? What do you have planned?"

"Actually, I see myself working with the military. Traveling the world, fighting for the country I was born and raised in, and doing it with my best friend by my side."

"Best friend?"

"My friend, Luke. He was the guy who's birthday we were celebrating the other night. Honestly, he and I are only going to college because of our friends. But we've always wanted to join the military."

As he talks, I see a light somewhat start to shine in his eyes. I can see that he is slowly starting to forget that I'm even here, and he just continues to talk about this. I can't help but smile as he spends the next couple of minutes just talking about something he's so passionate about. And he doesn't stop until his friend pops in and gives us both our drinks.

Once his friend leaves, he chuckles and says, "Sorry. I got a bit carried away."

"Don't apologize. I think it's really cool that you're so passionate about something like that."

He's cheeks turn a light shade of pink and he rubs the back of his neck. "Well, let's move on. So, what did you want to do?"

"I don't really know. My boss has been slowly starting to show me how to run things behind the scenes. If he's serious about it, I might take over the club when he's ready to leave."

"Wow, that definitely is a good plan. But, what if that doesn't work out? Do you have a plan B?"

"Do you?"

"Try two. I'm going to college for the most basic level of education right now, but might look into getting into some EMT training right after. Going to college does give me a backup plan," he laughs. "Not only that, but my dad is good friends with a mechanic a few towns over. I actually know quite a bit about cars, so the guy said he could give me a job there if I wanted it."

I hum and look down. "I guess I never thought of a back up plan. I don't know what I would do."

"Well, you look a bit young. I'm sure you have plenty of time to think of something."

I feel a hint of fear hit my heart as I hear the words leave his mouth. "How old do you think I am?"

He shrugs his shoulders and says, "I don't know. Twenty; twenty-one. I don't think you can serve drinks under nineteen."

I silently sigh and smile. "I'm twenty-one," I lie.

"Nice, same age as me."

"That's a lie," we hear as Mark walks by the table to help someone else.

"Fuck you," Jon growls under his breath before he says, "It's not a full lie. I'm turning twenty-one in a few months."

"May isn't a few months," Mark then says, walking past us again as he carries a bill past us.

"That wasn't even your table, fucker," Jon growls again, glaring at Mark as he walks behind the counter.

I can't help but laugh at the two before Jon turns back to me and rolls his eyes. "Okay, I'm a year younger than you. Big deal. When's your birthday?"

"May thirty-first."

"Damn, mine is May second."

I chuckle, "That sounds like we wouldn't have any excuse to forget each other's birthdays then." I then look down to my phone and see that I had a text from Ohm.

**"Yeah, change the subject. Remember what I told you. Get him to talk about himself more than he gets you to talk about yourself. It will be easier to tell if he was watching you if he tells you about himself first."**

I look back up to him and smile again. "So, what made you want to go out with me? Was it my job, or the fact that you just couldn't have me or something."

He laughs and says, "Oh believe me, that fact that Tyler pressed so hard against me having you added to it, but it was definitely your job that got me thinking about you. Not for the reason you think. When I look at you, I can't help but think of a jock, or a music geek."

"Those don't really mix."

"I've seen a lot of hot music geeks before. But, a stripper wasn't what I thought of as a job for you. Hell, even a bouncer or a bartender made more sense. Even if you were on hard times, I never would have thought the only place you could have gotten work would have been there."

"Well, it's a great place to work. I love it. The people I work with are amazing, the customers are nice, and my boss is more than amazing as it is. The only thing I don't like are the rules, but I understand why we have all of them."

"Well, have you ever thought about going back to college. From what Tyler has told us, you guys don't pay rent at the apartments you all live at, so it makes sense that you would have the money to put yourself through school."

"I haven't even finished high school, so-"

"Wait, you haven't?"

"No, I dropped out when I left home."

"Well, you have some time before you're too old. Why don't you finish up school or get a G.E.D.? I've heard those are pretty hard to get, but it's better to have something. Plus, it could open the door for you to get a plan B set up for you."

I bite my lip and look out the window into the dark streets. That's the same thing Ohm has been telling me.

"I'll... I'll think about it. But, like I said-"

"Talk to your boss as well." I look back to him when he says that. "You said your boss has been showing you how things worked on the back end, right? Well, if you finish up high school and go to college for a business degree, that might impress him enough to really give you the position when he steps down."

My eyes widen as that thought flows through my mind. I've never thought about it like that before.

Before I could tell him I'd think about it again, our food is brought to us. We end up spending the rest of our night just talking and laughing. It didn't take us too long to start talking about video games, music, movies, and stupid stories about our friends. My guard slowly falls as time flies by, and before I know it, hours have gone by.

Jon paid the check, but he and I end up staying in that booth for much longer than I realized. The entire time, he didn't really hit on me, but I felt so comfortable with him that I ended up allowing him to caress my hand most of the night as we talked.

It wasn't until I felt my phone buzzing in my pocket that I looked at the clock. Sure enough, it was one in the morning, and Ohm and Smitty were texting me to make sure I was still alive.

"Oh damn," I hear Jon say as he looks at his watch. "I was joking when I said we'd be out until you club closed."

"It's alright," I tell him with a smile. "I had a lot of fun."

He smiles back and takes my hand, "Let me walk you to your car. I would drive you to your apartment, but I'm sure Tyler will have people looking for me there."

I chuckle and nod my head before standing with him and walking out. He keeps his hand tightly wrapped around mine as he walks me over to my car, which is in the middle of the half empty parking lot. Once we're at my car, I open the driver side door before turning around to face him again.

"I had a lot of fun. We should do this again soon."

"How about tomorrow? If you don't work, I mean."

I pretend to this for a minute before I say, "I think I'm free. What did you have in mind?"

"How about movie and dinner? You know, since, we're bad at keeping track of time."

I laugh and nod. "I'd like that."

He and I stare into each other's eyes for a bit before I notice that he is starting to lean into me. My heart starts beating much harder and faster than it has in years, but unlike before, I don't mind this feeling. My stomach is twisting into knots from being nervous, but it doesn't stop me.

I slowly shut my eyes and lean into him as well, putting my hands on his chest and slowly allowing our lips to touch. The kiss only last for a couple of seconds, but it was just enough to make me want more.

It's clear that he felt the same way, because half a second after we start to pull away from each other, he wraps one of his arms around my waist and pulls me into him. His other arm then goes around my back, and he uses that hand to cradle my head as he goes back in to kiss me again. This time however, he parts his lips a bit and focuses on one lip at a time as he kisses me. I keep my eyes shut and melt into his arms, sliding my arms up his body and wrapping them around his neck, enjoying every passing second of this.

In the middle of this breath taking kiss, I feel him suddenly lick my bottom lip. Admittedly, I spent a lot of my time reading stories online, so I wasn't confused about what that action meant. However, I did feel a bit scared, knowing that in every story I've read, this always led to the same thing.

When I feel him lick my lip again, I decide that the best thing I can do at this moment would be to open my mouth. If I had more of a choice, I would have pushed him away, however, I'm actually not too sure how tight of a hold he has on my body, and I'm a little afraid to find out.

Seconds after I opened my mouth, I feel his tongue slide into my mouth, and I can't help but moan as he tilts his head from side to side, having his tongue dance around in my mouth, and still going back to that same kiss we had been doing before, only adding his tongue for a few seconds at a time. Every second of this kiss makes me feel like I'm getting high. Everything around me melts away, and a warm light surrounds us. I don't hear cars or the buzzing from the lights. The world has stopped. Only for us.

When Jon finally pulls away, I open my eyes half way and look up to him. We're both panting a little, but when our eyes lock, we just smile at each other.

"That has to be the best damn kiss I've ever had," he tells me, chuckling a bit as the words leave his lips.

I laugh and push him slightly. "We'll have to do that again soon," I say in a playful tone.

He laughs and pulls me close again, kissing my forehead before he starts walking backwards towards the diner. I practically fall into my car, and shut the door behind me, locking it automatically. I start laughing, my face starting to hurt from smiling so much, and I push my hair out of my face as I look up to the top of my car. My heart is pounding so hard in my chest that I feel like it's going to break my rib cage.

After some time, I pull myself somewhat together and start up my car. I can still feel my cheeks hurting from smiling so much, however, I choose to ignore it. Right now, I'm still high off of that kiss with Jon. I never knew something as simple as a kiss could make that happen. Make me feel this way.

I don't start coming down until I'm about half way to the apartments, and it isn't until then that I remember what Ohm told me about driving home. Once I do however, I look in my rearview mirror and see a pair of headlights.

_How long has this person been behind me?_

I decide to play it safe, so as soon as I can, I make a right turn onto another main road and look back into the rearview. The car makes a right turn. My heart sinks in my chest for a second, and I quickly make another right turn when I get to another main road. The car also makes a right turn into that street.

I take a mental note of the car as it turns the corner. _Black, four door truck._ Afterwards, I drive to the next main road and make another right turn. I continue to do this, going in a complete circle about three times. Then, I grab my phone and start to dial the number Smitty gave me before I left.

Before I make the call though, I look into the rearview as I make another right turn, only to see the truck drive straight through the light this time. I sigh when I see this and put my phone away. When I can, I get back onto the right road and continue to drive, checking my rearview more often until I get back to the apartments.

_Who was following me... What car did Jon drive?_


	13. Back to Work

Two weeks have gone by since I had gotten my bruise, and I'm happy to wake up in the morning and see that it is completely healed. With the picture I had sent yesterday, Panda told me that it looked like I would have been able to come back soon, so I kept that in mind last night when Jon had asked me on another date. Despite going out almost every day the past two weeks and pretty much watching every movie that was playing in the theater at this point, we both wanted to see more of each other. It hurt me having to turn him down, however, after not working for way too long, I've been dying to go back to the club.

So, after doing my morning jog with Ohm, lap dance practice, and spending a few hours talking on the phone with Jonathan, I couldn't wait for four o'clock to hit. The second it did, I practically ran out of my apartment and jumped into my car in a matter of seconds.

By the time I got to work, most of the guys had already arrived. It was close to five, so I already knew that everyone was inside, setting up and getting ready for the night. This was always something we looked forward to, because it gave us the most time to just sit around and talk without having to worry about when we would have to go on stage or worry about any of the customers. Right now was all about setting up, hoping for an easy night, and just getting to talk to each other.

However, when I walk backstage, I instantly hear yelling from the front. Fear shoots through my body and I run into the hall and through the door. What I end up seeing is all of the dancers and waiters gathered around in a half circle, staring at something. I go around the group and gasp at what I see. Marcel and David are on top of Bryce, and Smitty and Mini are hugging Ohm, who is shaking.

"Wh-What's going on," I ask, bringing everyone's attention to me.

Ohm pulling out of Smitty's and Mini's arms and he looks at me, showing me the shattered glass sticking out of his face. Blood and tears are streaming down his face.

"Oh my god, Ohm," I scream before running to him and grabbing his face, being care to not touch the glass. "What happened?!"

"Nothing, it's fine," he says, pushing my hands off of him.

"Bullshit; what happened?!"

"Nothing; it's fine now!"

"Smitty, what happened," I ask, knowing Ohm won't tell me anything now.

"I don't know," he says, shaking his head. "We were setting up and all of a sudden we heard Bryce yelling at Ohm. I was pulling out the boxes of liquor for the night and all of a sudden I hear glass shattering. I put the box down and ran out and saw Ohm on the ground, holding the side of his face and Bryce had grabbed two bottle from behind the bar. He threw that at Ohm, but he was moving away. Then, David and Marcel tackled him, Panda ran to his office, and we've been trying to calm him down. That was ten minutes ago."

"Oh my god, why," I yell, looking over to Bryce in shock. I feel my blood turn cold when I look down to him though. Marcel and David are barely able to stay on top of him and Bryce struggles to push them off of him, and his glare at Ohm is so sharp that it might as well be a sword.

"You should have fucking told me," Bryce yells at Ohm. "You had all fucking day! We live together! Why the fuck didn't you tell me shit?! You should have fucking told me!"

"I'm sorry," Ohm yells back. "I told you, I just forgot! I though Panda told you! I'm sorry!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Bryce says in a mocking tone. "Is that all you fucking know how to say you son of a bitch?!"

"Bryce-"

"Stay the fuck out of this, Evan," he spits at me. When he turns his attention to me, I practically fall back from just seeing the fire burning in his eyes. "This is all your fault anyways! This whole fight wouldn't be fucking happening if it wasn't for you!"

Marcel then grabs a handful of Bryce hair and slams his face into the ground before yelling, "Shut up, Bryce! You're not making this any easier on yourself!"

"Fuck you!"

I can't help but shake my head at all of this. I've never seen Bryce act like this. He's so angry, and I don't understand why, or where this is coming from. I don't understand what's going on.

_Ten minutes. This whole thing started ten minutes before I got here. What could have happened?_

Bryce continues to yell and struggle for what feels like an eternity, and I can't help but shake in fear as I see this. _His behavior... it reminds me of-_

We finally hear the front door open before we see three police officers rush in. They run over to Bryce and force his hands behind his back before Marcel and David get off of him. Panda walks out from the back and pulls one of the officers to the side. I have to fight back tears as I watch him get dragged away, kicking and screaming, threatening Ohm. After a minute, Panda and the officer go over to Ohm and he helps Ohm up. He talks to him in a claiming voice before leading him to the bar.

"Alright everyone," Panda yells out, facing everyone that was still in that little half circle. "I know that this is going to be hard, but I want all of you to put on smiles and get back to work. We can't let this incident keep us from doing our jobs, and you all already know that I've done all I can to keep everyone safe. Ohm will be taken care of, Bryce will be taken care of, and I know that with the support from all of you, you will be taken care of. So, get back to work! We have a busy night!"

After Panda finishes his speech, everyone breaks away and goes back to setting up for tonight, including Mini and Smitty. Panda then walks over to me and gives me his hand.

"Some way to be welcomed back."

"You can say that again," I say, taking his hand. He then pulls me up and pats me on the back. I bite my lip, wanting to know, but knowing myself, I won't be able to stop the question from coming out. "Do you know what happened?"

He sighs and pats me on the back again before turning to the back door. "Let's talk in my office."

I blink in confusion, but follow after him. In about a minute, we end up in his office, and he asks me to go sit on his couch. I do as he asks, and watch him as he walks over to his bar, pouring a drink for himself before he grabs a glass and fills it with coke for me.

After handing me the coke, he walks over to the window and looks out. "I was down stairs when the fight started. I was originally going to speak with Bryce when I saw him here, but before I had the chance, Ohm got to him."

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, Bryce wasn't supposed to be here. While your bruise was healing, I had him working the floor. I was planning on giving him the day off today, and I had told Ohm to tell him. Apparently that didn't happen, so when I went to ask Bryce why he was here, Ohm ran up to him and started apologizing to him. Next thing I know, Bryce had slammed his drink into Ohm face."

"Are you serious?"

"Unfortunately," he says before he take a drink. "All week, I heard him talk about how some old friends of his were in town, and he hadn't found the time to see them. He complained about how they had been inviting him out every night, but because he was scheduled to work, he wasn't able to see them. My guess is that Ohm forgot to tell Bryce about the schedule change, and Bryce got mad about missing out on a night with his friends."

My heart drops to my stomach as Bryce's words come back to me. It makes sense now. "This is all my fault."

"What?"

"None of this would have happened if it wasn't for me. If I hadn't gotten hurt. If I didn't come back today. This-"

"Vanoss, no," Panda says loudly, slamming his glass on the bar before he walks over to me. "This happened because Ohm failed to tell Bryce that he wasn't suppose to come to work today. This happened because Bryce has been drinking since he got here. That is something that I know because I saw him hammering down a bottle by himself." He then sits next to me and puts a hand on my shoulder. "You did nothing wrong."

I look down to his hand before turning my head away from Panda. Taking a deep breath, I try to let Panda's words sink in, but I can't help but think about Bryce and Ohm. "What's going to happen to Bryce and Ohm now?"

"Nothing."

"What?"

"I talked to the police officers personally. I made a deal with them in order to keep Bryce from going to jail. They're just going to drive him back to the apartments and keep an eye on him until he sobers up. The third officer that's with Ohm right now, is currently pulling the glass out of his face. If we're lucky, he might still be able to work tonight."

"What? How?"

"He's the only guy here that wears a mask for his costume, remember? If the glass is just by his eyes, we can have him cover his scars with the mask."

"But, shouldn't he go to the hospital?"

I look back to him after I had asked that, and feel my blood turn cold when I see his glare. I feel his grip on my shoulder tight, and a stinging pain instantly hits me from where his hand is. After a few seconds however, it loosens, and he stand up. I instantly start massaging my shoulder, hoping that another bruise doesn't form from him.

"Evan," he says, making me worry even more than I already was. Panda never calls me Evan unless it's something serious. "Do you know how much work I had to put into making this call today?"

I gulp and shake my head. "N-no sir."

"I had to call these men on their personal cell phones to make sure that they came without alerting their office about it. Ohm's injury isn't something we can write off as an accident. By taking him to the hospital, we would be forced to make a report to these officers' office. Questions will come up as to why I didn't call 911. Bryce will be arrested, these officers will lose their job, and the club will be in trouble for not reporting it when it happened. The damage from all of that can damage the club." He then looks back to me. "Not to mention, they will start looking into everyone here. Including you. Your age will come out, and since you are a run away, not only will the club be shut down, but you will be taken away. Taken back to your home."

My breathing starts to become shaky as my mind starts to run a million miles per hour. My heart starts to beat much harder in my chest, and my grip on my shoulder starts to tighten. I have to rip my hand off of me to keep myself from gripping onto my shoulder too tightly before I grab my soda. I can see my hand shaking at this point, but I try to calm myself down enough in order to down the glass without spilling the soda all over me.

"I'm sorry I had to scare you by telling you all of this," he says before taking a sip of his own drink. "But you needed to understand why I can't take Ohm to the hospital. I wish I knew a doctor we could call, but for now, we just have to hope that officer Daniel knows what he's doing. Hope that Ohm's injuries aren't too bad."

He then looks back to the club. "I've worked too hard on this club to lose it all, and I know that you see the people here like family, because I do as well. I want this club to continue on after I'm done working; so, I have to do a few things that I'm not proud of in order to make sure that happens. Something you'll have to learn to get use to."

"Y-yes sir."

"It's almost time to open. Why don't you go change."

"Yes sir."

I quickly stand up and walk out of the office, going down the stairs and through the door to get backstage. I open my locker on the back wall and start to pull out my uniform. Just as I start to pull off my shirt, I look to the door of my locker and see the picture I had taped up. The picture of me and my parents before they fell into their own little piece of darkness.

I run my fingers along the picture and let out a sign. _Would they be happy if they saw where I am now? ... Would they even care?_

"Evan," I hear from behind me. I look over my shoulder and see Ohm walking over. When he comes up to me, he wraps his arms around me and hugs me tightly. "I'm sorry you had to see all of this."

I take a deep breath and shake my head. "I can't believe all of this... It's hard to swallow, and I don't get why Bryce did that."

"He got drunk."

"But I've seen him drunk before, and he never acted like that."

"People act differently when they're drunk, Evan. Most of the time he got drunk off of rum or whiskey, which made him sleepy or loud and fun. However, today he drank tequila, which made him extremely angry and violent."

"I... I didn't know that."

"Most of the customers who come here know how things effect them and will make sure to avoid them. Now, why don't you change-"

"Wait," I say loudly, turning to face him. I hold my uniform close to my body and look up to him. "How do you feel? You're hurt, you had glass in your face, and you can't even go to the hospital."

"I know," he says, looking down to his feet. "All of us know that if we get hurt, none of us can go get help. And we're fine with that."

"How could you though?"

He looks back up to me and smiles at me. "Because, I love you so much, Evan. I don't care what happens to me, as long as you're safe, I'm happy."

I frown and look down, trying so hard not to cry. "But, I don't want you guys to get hurt."

"I know. And when we get back to the apartments and I see Bryce when he's sober, I'll talk to him about this. I'm sure he'll be more willing to stay away from certain things after this."

"But-" Before I can say anything else, Ohm wraps his arms around me again and pulls me close to him.

"It's okay. I know, you hate that we're doing this. You wish we would go get help and not worry about the club and what happens to us. I know how you feel, believe me, I do. But I want you to know that we're fine with this. It's an unspoken agreement. A unofficial rule. If I wanted to, I would go to the hospital right now; but I don't. I want you to be safe, Evan. I care too much about you to see you get hurt."

I fight back the tears that are building up, and I hug him tightly, dropping my uniform on the ground in between us.

_An unspoken agreement... An unofficial rule... All for me... Did everyone agree to this?_


	14. The Start of a New Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ***Trigger Warning***

After changing into my uniform, I walk over to the door that leads to the hallway in order to join the others on the floor. However, once I start to open the door, I hear two people talking in the hall, and what I hear causes me to stop.

"I seriously think you should go to the hospital, Ryan."

"No way, Moo."

"You're being so stupid! Do you really trust what Dan did? There could still be glass in you!"

"I don't care. I'm not going to get us in trouble."

"Us, or them."

"Both. You know as well as I do what will happen if I go to the hospital."

"Yeah, and it might be better if you do go."

"I'm not fucking going! I'm not going to let them take Evan back to his parents, and I'm not letting Bryce go to jail!"

"You're being so selfish!"

"Selfish?!"

"Yes! You only care about you getting to see them, that's why you don't want to go! Bryce needs help and Vanoss deserves better than this!"

"So what?! You think going to jail is going to help Bryce?! You think Evan is going to be happier going back home?! He left for a reason!"

"I understand that. But you and I both know that this isn't a good place for him. He needs to find a better job. He needs a better life than this. But because of you and everyone else in this fucking club, he's comfortable here. He thinks way too highly of this place, and he refuses to look for anything better!"

"Do you think I don't realize that?! I've been trying to just get him to go back to high school, and I've only barely got him to start looking around to find a high school with online classes."

"That's your fault! You were the one that told him he didn't need to go back to high school, and yet, you're also the only person in this club that dropped out and went back to get your GED!"

"I realize that now... Believe me, I know I fucked up in the beginning... I didn't think I would care about him this much."

"... Look, I know that you were only trying to help him when this whole thing started, but you know that after a year of him being here, you should have tried to get him out."

"... I know. You're right."

"Ohm... He listens to you... You need to see if you can get it through his head. You need to talk to him."

"... I'll try to bring it up with him the next time he drags me into his apartment to teach him how to give a lap dance. I just hope he realizes what I'm trying to do."

***

When I open my eyes, I let out a heavy sigh. It's been three days since I started going back to work, and that conversation I overheard between Ohm and Brock has been stuck in my head since I heard it. I've always known that Brock wanted to get rid of me, but hearing that conversation... It's changed my idea of why.

I check my phone and see that it's ten in the morning. Knowing that I'm going to go mad if don't at least go out for my morning run with Ohm, I jump out of bed and change into my workout outfit. Then, I walk over and open my door, just in time to see Ohm getting ready to knock.

I put on my usual smile and push through the day, doing everything like I normally do. Run, eat, shower, practice lap dancing, and finish it off with texting Jonathan, since he's in class at the moment. As I text him, I also jump on my computer and start looking into the high schools in town. As confusing as it kind of is, I've been looking to see if I could take advantage of my free time and actually start taking online classes. It's not going to be fun, and honestly, I'd rather do anything but this... But... Everyone seems to think this is a good idea. Honestly, I don't know if it really is or not, but, if everyone really think I should do this, it doesn't hurt to try.

After a while of looking around, I finally find a high school that I think would be the perfect place to go to. There's only one problem. I'd have to go into the school itself in order to fill out the paperwork needed. If I could, I would just say fuck it and look at another school, but this one has more classes that I could take online. It also requires parental guidance to be there as well... I guess I could talk to the guys to see if they could help me with that. However, I don't really know if it would work. None of them look like me, and none of them are old enough for people to believe that they are my parents.

_Maybe this isn't a good idea after all..._

I jump slightly when I hear a knock at my door. If a light sigh, I stand up and walk over to my door, opening it slightly for me to see who's on the other side, before opening it completely for the person on the other side. "Hey Bryce; what are you doing here?"

He keeps his head low and doesn't even seem to try to make eye contact with me. He also doesn't say anything, which leaves us in sort of an awkward silence. After a short well, I move out of the way and say, "Why don't you come inside?"

Again, he doesn't say anything, however, he walks into my apartment and goes straight to the couch. Before I close the door, I look around outside in order to see if anyone else is seeing this. I then shut the door and walk back over to my counter and sit on one of my bar stools. I then turn away from my laptop and face him.

"So, Bryce-"

"I'm sorry," he says quickly and so quietly that I was only barely able to hear him.

"What?"

"I'm sorry," he repeats, this time, a little slower and louder. "For what I did and said at the club the other day... I'm sorry. I was just so fucked up and pissed and, I don't know. I haven't really been me lately, and, I didn't mean anything I said... So, I'm sorry for what you saw, and I'm sorry for what I said. It wasn't your fault. I just," he stops and sighs, pushing his hair back and he sits up. I can see the dark circles under his eyes, and the tears streaming down his face. "I'm more angry now than I have ever been, and I don't want to be. So, I want you to hear me say this, because you really do mean a lot to me, Evan. I really do care about you. And, I... I want to get clean. I'm going to, and I'm making this a promise to you."

I blink and stare at him in complete shock. After a few seconds, I smile and walk over to him and give him a tight, comforting hug. "I'm proud of you, Bryce. Just saying that you want to change means a lot to me, and I'm sure it will mean a lot to everyone else."

He wraps his arms around me and starts crying into my chest, shaking and gasping for air as he does so. We stay like this for a long while before he finally calms down a bit. I then go to my kitchen and pull out a bottle of water for him, and while my back is turned, he follows me and sits on one of the bar stools. When he does, he looks over to my laptop and sees what I was doing.

"Why are you looking at high schools?"

"Oh," I say as I hand him the bottle of water. "Well, everyone has been telling me that they wanted me to go back to school, so I was checking to see what classes I can take online."

He looks over at me with wide eyes and a smile on his face. "Wait, you're going to finish high school?"

"I was thinking about it. However, the only one I could find that I practically never have to go to the school for is a little troubling. For me to enroll there, I'd have to go to the school with a guardian to fill out paper work, but-"

"I know what you can do." I look over to him with a shocked expression and lean against the counter towards him. "Brock knows a guy that is a foster parent to a lot of kids. He also knows how to fabricate all the necessary documents for them. No one will ever know the difference."

"How do you know about this?"

"He told us all about this before you came into the picture. The guy is a cousin or an uncle or something. Last I heard, he lived in the city. If you talk to Brock, I'm sure he will love to help you."

I bite my lip and look away. "I don't know."

"He cares about you, Evan. I know that he's been hard on you, and he argues with Ohm and I a lot, but he does so because he cares about you... Even more than Ohm and I."

"But, he seems so-"

"No buts. He cares about you, and he will help you. Just talk to him."

Letting out a heavy sigh, I roll my eyes and say, "Fine. I'll go talk to him right now then."

He gently pats my shoulder and smiles at me. "Thank you."

I turn the laptop around so that its facing me and I write down the name of the high school and number for it. Bryce then walks me out of the apartment and across the courtyard. He then knocks on the door to the apartment, and starts walking away.

"Wait, were are you going?!"

"I need to check back in with Ohm. Just tell him it's for school and he'll help you. I'll see you at work tonight!"

"Bryce!"

Before I can yell anything else, the door opens and Brock is staring at me in shock. "What are you doing here?"

I gulp and look away from him. With a groan, I say, "I've heard that you know someone who can falsify documents."

"What? Evan, whatever you're planning-"

"I need them to help me get into high school." Once I say that, he shuts up. When I look over to him from the corner of my eye, I see that he's just staring at me in shock. I then hold up the paper I had written the information down on and continue. "I found a high school I practically never have to go to in order to graduate from. I can take almost all of my classes online, and the rest during the summer. However, for me to enroll, I need to go down to the school with a parent or guardian."

"I can definitely help you then. My cousin can make any document needed and make it look so real that the government wouldn't even be able to tell it was fake. And my uncle and aunt foster kids all the time. I'll ask my cousin to get the documents made by tomorrow and have my aunt and uncle call the school and have them take care of enrolling you."

I turn my head so that I'm facing him and I watch him take the paper out of my hand and open it. "Oh, a few of the kids they foster have gone to this school. My uncle is friends with a lot of the staff there. I can definitely help you get in." He then looks back to me and smiles. "If you end up needing more help after this, even if it's just homework, don't be afraid to come over and ask."

I blink and stare at him, a little shocked. "Uh, okay. Thanks."

I turn away and start to walk back to my apartment, but stop when I hear Brock say, "I'm proud of you. Taking the first step is hard to do, and I'm proud of you for asking for the help, and for wanting to take that step."

I look over my shoulder and see him still staring at me, still smiling at me. After a few seconds, I turn away from him again and continue walking away from him, trying to hide the smile on my face.

Once I get back to my apartment, I call Jonathan. I lay in bed as I talk to him, setting my alarm before I spend the next few hours just talking to him. When my alarm goes off, I hang up and leave for the club. I can't keep the smile off of my face the entire time. Today feel like a truly amazing day for me.

Once I get to the club, I change into my uniform and start to go out to the floor. However, I stop when I see Bryce walk over to his vanity and sit down, laying his head in between his arms. I raise an eyebrow at this, but just say a quick hi before I leave backstage and go to the floor to help set up for tonight.

When I start helping out around the bar, Smitty and Ohm walk over to help as well.

"Hey," I start as I pull out the stacks of trays. "Why did Bryce go backstage?"

"He said he wasn't feeling all that well," Smitty tells me.

"It could be that he decided to quit drinking," I guess.

"That's definitely not it," Ohm tells me. "He started drinking the moment we got to the club."

"What?! He told me this morning that he was going to quit after what happened a few days ago!"

"Don't read too much into this," I hear from the room behind the bar. I look over and seconds later, Brock walks out of the back room with a box in hand. "Was this the rum you were talking about, Smitty?"

"Yeah, just put it by the register."

He does as Smitty asked before he tells me, "Bryce has been drinking for a while, remember. It dangerous to go cold turkey, so most people will cut it out of their lives slowly."

"But he promised," I say, looking down.

"I know that you're worry, but give him the time. He should be able to live a healthier live sooner or later."

I sigh before I say, "I hope you're right."

Soon Brock leaves to help the others set up, leaving me with Smitty and Ohm again. The three of us talk as we finish setting up everything for the servers and the bar. Then, we sit at the bar to talk for a short while as we wait. After talking for possibly ten minutes, Panda comes onto the floor and calls everyone over to go over the schedule for the dances. After he tells each dancer when they were going to go onstage, he pauses for a second to allow the dancer to tell him if they understood.

"After Mini, you'll go up, Lui."

"Okey-dokey," Lui shouts out in his squeaker voice, making us laugh.

Through his laughter, Panda then say, "After Lui is done, Bryce will go on." He pauses, but we don't hear an answer. I look around and notice that Bryce isn't with us. Panda notices as well, and groans, "Where is Bryce?"

I quickly say, "He might still be backstage. I'll go get him," and quickly start walking to the back door.

Once I go backstage, I walk to the end of the room and see Bryce still laying on his vanity with his arms covering his face. "Are you feeling okay, Bryce?"

He doesn't answer me.

"Bryce?"

He doesn't answer.

I walk over and shake him a little, causing his head to fall to the side. I see that his eyes are shut and there is vomit on his lips. Jumping back, I can't help but gag at the sight of the vomit covering the top of his vanity and his arms. "God, how much did you drink," I say before I walk out of the room.

Once I walk back to the floor, I shake my head and tell them, "He's passed out and covered in vomit."

"What," Panda tells. "Why the hell is he like that already?!"

"He drank a bottle of rum practically by himself when he got here," Smitty tells him.

"You've got to be sucking my cock," he groans in annoyance. "Ohm, get him out of here. If he's that drunk now, there's no way he's going to be sober by the time he's up."

Ohm groans and start mumbling something under his breath as he steps out of line and goes backstage. I walk back to the group and stand next to Smitty.

"Okay, quick change in the schedule. After Lui, Brock, you will go on stage."

"You got it."

"After Brock will be Ohm, and after Ohm, we'll just have Lui go again."

"Am I going to be doing two dances tonight or three," he asks, a hint of anger already building up behind his voice.

"That depends. Mini! Have you and Ohm been practicing your duel dance?"

"Yes sir!"

"Do you think you two are ready to perform it tonight?"

"Boi, it will be the sexiest thing anyone will ever see," he say in a girl-ish voice, causing some of the guys to giggle and others to roll their eyes.

"Alright! Then Lui, after your second dance you can leave or do lap dances until you're done with the night. Mini, you and Ohm will close out the night wit-"

"OH MY GOD!"

The room goes dead quiet after we hear yelling from backstage. We all look up to the stage and see Ohm running out and grabbing the pole for dear life. Tears are pouring down his face and fear is stabbing me in the heart from the horrid expression on his face.

"Please! Someone call the police! Call an ambulance! Call someone! Please hurry!"

"What's going on," Panda asks.

What Ohm then say shatters my heart.

"It's Bryce! He isn't moving! He isn't breathing! For the love of God! He isn't breathing!"


	15. Saying Goodbye

The bright neon lights on the stage make the black and white room glow, even in the dimmer lighting in the sitting area. One by one, I'd see my friends go on stage and dance around the pole. Smitty and I would watch from the bar, making jokes and laughing as we sing along to the songs that came on. Finally, Bryce goes on stage.

He has a big, bright smile on his face as he practically skips out from backstage, excitement oozing out of him and infecting the people around him. His blond hair is bouncing with each step he takes, his clip on cat ears hanging on tightly to his hair, and the tail attached to his somewhat baggy pants swinging from side to side. When he's only a few feet away from the pole, he drops to his knees and crawls over to the edge of the stage. Several men are gather around the stage, reaching out towards him.

With a smirk on his face, he teases the men, slides his hands towards them, only to pull them away before any of the men could touch him. He turns his back away from them and pushes himself off of the floor, grabbing the pole and swirling around it, bending one of his legs so that when he leans away from it, he is in a nice little pose.

He pulls himself up and starts to walk around the pole, the light bouncing off his bell, bringing attention to his neck. He has one hand trace his collar before it slides down his bare chest and goes all the way down to the edge of his pants. In one quick motion, he pulls at the side of his pants, ripping off the velcro and making the pant fall off his body, revealing the black and white booty shorts that were underneath them.

He turns away and jumping on the pole, using his weight to swing his body around it. As he starts to do his favorite tricks on the pole, I can't help but notice how the stage is growing darker. Soon, I'm unable to see the floor or the curtains behind him. He soon stops turning and holds his position on the pole, upside down hands gripping tightly around the pole, and his legs straight up in the air. Then, he starts moving his legs, making it look like he's walking on air as he brings his legs slowly down until he's body is making a perfect 90° angle.

As he was walking, I quickly noticed that he himself was starting to get darker. The edges of his body turning black and slowly crawling across his body. Then, Bryce ends his dance by pulling his legs in and doing a perfect split in the air. Once he does, the darkness swallows the rest of his body. After a second, the lights come back on, and he is gone. All that is left on stage in his bell collar, tied around the pole.

***

I watch from Panda's office as the police interview all of the dancers at each table on the floor. The second someone pulled their phone out to call for help, Panda grabbed me and pulled me up here, telling me not to come out until he said I could. Since then, I've been watching everything play out from up here.

I've seen the officers and paramedics rush into the building. I've seen the paramedics rush out with Bryce on a stretcher. I saw one of them straddling him as the man was pressing on his chest. I've watched as each officer picked a dancer and led them to a table. I watched as Ohm and Smitty broke down into tears as they talked. Out of everyone in the club, they were the closest to Bryce. Even closer to him than I was.

Tears are falling from my face as I hear the door open behind me. I try to wipe them away before I look back and see Panda and Officer Nova walk in. As Panda locks the door and walks over to his desk, Officer Nova walks over to me and puts a hand on my shoulder.

"I'm sorry this happened. I've heard that you two were close." I just nod and look back towards the floor. "I'm going to have to get your statement. From what the guys told me, you found Bryce first." I nod again.

He gently pull me closer to him and leads me over to the couch. Once we both sit down, and pulls out his pen and notepad and ask me to tell him what happened when I first got to work.

"After I got here, I went to my locker, which is backstage, and I changed into my uniform. Then, I started walking to that little hallway that leads to the floor, and then I saw Bryce walk in. He looked a bit off."

"What do you mean?"

"He had his head down, his hands were on his stomach, and he was swaying as he walked. I didn't think much of it, just thought maybe he was sick or something. He walked over to his vanity and put his head down with his arms wrapped around his head. I just said hey before I went to the floor. I talked to the others and they told me they saw him drinking. I was upset because he told me that he would stop drinking this morning."

"Then what happened?"

"After a while, Panda started telling us the schedule of when each dancer would go onstage, and when he got to Bryce, we realized that he was still backstage. I volunteered to go get him, so I went backstage. He was still laying on the vanity, and he wouldn't move when I called out his name. I tried to shake him, but then I saw that he was covered in vomit. It grossed me out, so I left. I told Panda and the others, and Ohm went to try to take him home. Then... Then he screamed... Is Bryce okay? Is he alive or..."

"It's too soon to tell. The paramedics said they found a light pulse, so they were going to try to save him."

I let out a sigh of relief. He then stands up and I see that he's about to say something, but he stops when his phone buzzes loudly in his pocket. He pulls it and takes a look at what was on it. He shakes his head and turns to Panda. "I'm going to need to talk to you again really fast."

Panda tells me to stay here again before he leaves with Officer Nova. I quickly get up, go back to the window, and look out to the floor. A minute after I do, I see Officer Nova and Panda walk onto the floor and it looks like Panda is calling everyone over. They crowd around the two and seconds later, all of them start crying. Panda pats Officer Nova's shoulder and gives him a hug before Nova walks out the front door. He then turns away from the crowd and walks back out through the backstage door. Ohm then pushes Smitty off of him and yells something, but I can't hear him. He then looks up to the office and back to the door before he runs in, with Brock and Smitty trying to run after him, only to be stopped by Marcel and Tyler.

That's when I hear the door open, and when I turn around, I see Panda walking in. "Evan, there's something I need to tell you."

He walks over to the couch and pats the seat next to him. I walk back over to him and sit next to him.

"Bryce is going to be okay; however, due to the fact that he drank as much as he did and he gave everyone as big of a scare as he did, I have no choice. Once he gets out of the hospital, I'm going to have to let him go."

"What?!"

"Evan, we had to call the police here, as well as the paramedics. If anyone were to have seen you, the club would have gotten in so much trouble, you know that. This just has to be how things are now. I'm sorry."

I'm about to say something else, but stop when I hear the door fly open. I look behind Panda and see Ohm standing in the doorway with tears pouring down his face, and anger boiling in his eyes. "What did you tell him," he asks in a cold, harsh tone that I had never heard before.

"I told him the truth," Panda tells him without turning to look at him.

"Evan, tell me exactly what he told you."

I blink in confusion and look between the two. Then, I say, "He told me Bryce is okay, but he's going to get fired."

"Oh did he," he now yells as he starts to walk closer to us. "Because that's not what James told us downstairs!"

"Shut the fuck up, Ohm," Panda growls at him.

"James told us that Bryce didn't even make it to the fucking hospital! He told us that Bryce is dead!"

"Ryan!"

"What," I ask, shaking from both fear and trying to keep myself from crying again.

"He deserves to know the truth," Ohm yells at Panda. "The whole truth! Every little detail that you and I both know!"

The two then glare at each other, and I can feel the heat burning from between them. My heart is pounding in my heart as I just wait in silence to just find out what is going on, what these guys are talking about, and what Ohm means by the whole truth.

Finally, after what feels like hours later, Panda finally says, "Fine." He then turns to me and groans before he starts. "The truth is that Bryce is dead, and we don't need to wait for him to get blood work or whatever to find out what killed him."

"What do you mean?"

"He means there's something we haven't told you, Evan," Ohm jumps in. "Something all of us at the club have been hiding, but we should have told you about sooner."

"The truth is," Panda continues. "Bryce doesn't just have a drinking problem. Or, he didn't. Or, oh god, fuck it! Bryce didn't just drink alcohol by the gallon, okay. He also had a drug problem."

"What?! No, that's a lie!"

"It's not, Evan," Ohm jumps in again. "Bryce have been popping a pill called Xanax. Most of the time, it made him slow, made his words slur, and caused him to act like a zombie half the time. But, when he mixed Xanax with drinking, it gave him energy."

"It also made him extremely angry for no reason," Panda mumbles.

Suddenly, some of the piece of a two day old puzzle fall into place. "Bryce wasn't just drunk the other day.... He mixed pills and liquor again..."

"That's right," Ohm says. "Doing that is extremely dangerous, but he did it anyways. If he only took the pills, he wouldn't even know where he is, and it would have been too dangerous to put him on stage. He easily could have fallen off, and he damn sure couldn't dance in that state. However, by mixing drinking and the pills, he could have done his job with no problem."

"But, why? Why did he start taking Xanax, and why did he mix it with alcohol? He told me he wasn't going to drink anymor-" I stop when I think back to his words from this morning.

_No... He didn't say he would stop drinking... He said he was going to get clean... He was going to try to get off Xanax._

"He got a letter from the police, that's why," Ohm says loudly, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"What?"

"Ryan is trying to get out of jail, so they had to tell him. This wouldn't have happened though if we had taken him more seriously when the stalking started."

Panda snaps his head to look at Ohm and I see him glare at him. "Ohm-"

"No, don't you dare say anything, Jigglesworth! You know that I'm right!"

"Evan," he growls before looking back to me. "Go wait backstage. I will tell you what is going to happen next when we are done here."

"What?"

"Just go," Panda snaps at me, causing me to jump and run out of the office.

I jump down the stages and do as he told me, going backstage to wait for him. I look toward the back of the large room, where we have a couch for us to relax on, but, it's so close to Bryce's vanity. Shaking my head, I walk to corner by the curtains and the wall. Bringing my knees up to my chest, I rest my head in my arms.

Everything feels like it's moving so fast, it's hard for me to take all of this in. _Bryce was addicted to Xanax... How did I not know this? How long has he been using? Why did he start? What is Panda hiding from me?_

"Evan?" I look up and see Brock at the door, staring at me in confusion. "What are you doing here?"

I look down and sigh. "Panda told me to wait here.... Brock, did you know that Bryce was addicted to Xanax?"

"Wait, what? Who told you?"

"Panda and Ohm."

"... I wish they told you sooner. Maybe this could have been avoided."

"So, you did know?"

"Everyone in the club knew, Evan. We were just told not to tell you."

"Why," I ask, looking up to him, seeing that he's looking down to the end of the room, where Bryce's vanity is.

He shuts his eyes and turns to his own vanity before he walks over to it, pulling out his chair, but sitting on the vanity itself. He pats the chair, telling me to go over and sit on it. Not knowing what else to do, I get up and walk over, sitting down on his chair.

"We were told not to tell you because it would open everyone else as a target."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, Panda didn't want you to learn about everyone's little kink to help them get through the day. You see, all of the dancers here are addicted to something. Some drink, others do heroin or meth, and the few that don't do those, like me, do cocaine. Even Smitty has his way of going through the day, but his is by locking himself in his apartment all day and playing video games. He says its so he can imagine he's in another world, for just a few hours."

I can feel my body turn cold as I listen to him. Hearing about this just makes me feel sick. "So, everyone does something?"

"I guess that's a lie too. After all, Mini, Chilled, and Ohm don't do anything. However, Chilled and Mini have been throwing back energy drinks like they were water, which actually worries me. They say it's so they can stay up late to study for college. Reason it worries me is because cocaine is known for helping with late nights, and I don't want them to get into this shit. As for Ohm, well, after this blow, I don't know what he's going to do."

My stomach starts knotting, and I have to use my hands to hold up my head. "This is a lot to take in," I groan.

"Which is why you should have learned about this when you started. Panda just didn't want to scare you away."

"Has Bryce been taking Xanax since I started?"

"No, he started a few months back, but he already had a drinking problem, so I wanted to get him off that shit. So did Ohm. I saw him constantly throwing bottles and bags of pills in the dumpster, but Bryce always found a way to get his hands on more."

I look down to the vanity and see small white stains for all the lines of cocaine that was used on there for so many years. "Funny. I ran away from home to get away from drugs and ran to a place full of different kinds... I guess drugs are meant to stay in my life."

"No, you're wrong," Brock tells me as he puts his hands on my shoulders and pushes me back, making me look at him. "Why do you think I've been pushing for you to get a different job? Why do you think I'm talking to my family to create a lie just so you can go back to high school? It's because I know you can do better than this, Evan. I've been working at this club for years, and you have no idea how many kids I've seen come and go that decided to do this because of their parents, or because they had a drug problem coming in. You came in hoping to get away from drugs, and that's what made me stay."

"Stay?"

"When I started working here, I was desperate for money. I had a good paying job, but my wife left me and was getting a large amount taken from me. We had a daughter at the time, and she was really sick. She was in the hospital for a year. My wife and I spent almost all of our money on trying to save her, and we were quickly running out. Out of desperation, I came here and worked every single night I could. Eventually, my daughter made it, and I was able to pay off the hospital bills. And then, my wife found out where the money came from. She told my boss, I lost my job, and she took me to court again so that she could get full custody of my daughter. That was five years ago, and I haven't seen my beautiful little girl since."

"I... I'm so sorry."

"Two years ago, I had more than enough money to leave this job, and start my life over. Get a better job and start fighting to get my daughter back in my life. But then, you came in. I knew that you needed help, and I felt like I had to stay. That I had to do something to try to help you."

_And I was so cold to you in return..._

"Well," I start. "Why don't you leave now? I'm sure your daughter misses you."

"Because I made a promise to myself to make sure you got out of here. That's why I jumped at the chance to help you go back to high school."

Guilty starts to drip into me as I think of all the times I threw away all of those applications for random jobs. "Evan," he says, pulling me out of my head and making me look over to him. "Now that you've seen a bit more of what really goes on here, will you let me help you."

I look down to the stains on the vanity and really start trying to take in everything that I learned today. None of it really makes sense though. Why would everyone have their own little addiction? What is it about this job that makes them all do that?

The only thing I can think of, is the fact that they have to bend the rules and law so much for me. I'm the reason for a lot of the stress around here. But I wasn't really a problem for Bryce... Could it have been him?

Bryce didn't start drinking until the day after Ryan was taken to jail, and he mixed Xanax and liquor tonight because he heard Ryan was trying to get out. Ohm said that he wasn't taken seriously before... How bad did the stalking get? Could something have been done earlier to make it end sooner?

_Maybe there's something I can do to help change things around here._

"Evan?"

I look back up to Brock and quickly come up with a plan to tell him. "Let's make a deal," I quickly say. "I'm planning on going to college for Business after I'm done with high school, and I don't want you to be away from your daughter for longer than you already have been. So let's make a deal. Once I'm done with high school and I've been enrolled in college, I want you to quit here and try to find a better job. Get your life back together, and fight to get your daughter back."

"Evan-"

"Moo, you've gotten no where with me over the past two years. I'm just now deciding to get my life together, and it isn't right that your daughter is going to grow up not knowing you. Please, make this deal with me."

He sighs, but gives me a small smile before he nods. "Oka-"

Before he can finish his sentence, we hear the door violently swing open, causing us to jump out of our seats. We look over and I gasp when I see Marcel and Tyler pushing Ohm. When Ohm sees me, he looks away, tears built up in his eyes, before Tyler pushes him again.

"Keep moving," he yells as he starts pushing him towards the back.

"What's going on," Brock yells, looking to Marcel.

Marcel sighs before he tells us, "Ohm just quit."

"What," I yell out, looking back towards him.

"It was in the heat of the moment," he says softly, but loud enough for me to hear him. "I didn't mean to say it... Not yet."

"But you did," Tyler growls. "And that's the problem. You know the rules, now get out of here!"

I start to feel what little pieces of my heart start to break even more. _The rule... Once you leave the club, you are banned from the property. You are to leave immediately, and you are not to contact anyone that currently works at the club. If you do, they will be fired immediately._

_I just lost Bryce... and now I'm about to lose Ohm._

I start shaking my head as I try to hold back my tears, however, they win out. Tears start to stream down my face as I watch Tyler push my friend, the person who saved me, closer to the door. However, Ohm turns around and he runs over to me, causing Tyler to chase after him.

I stiffen up as Ohm crashes into me and wraps his arms around me, and I prepare myself to see Tyler pull him off of me or something, but he stops when Marcel steps in between us. "What the fuck, man! You know the rules!"

"I do," Marcel tells him in a cold voice. "But I think it wouldn't hurt to give him a minute," he then says, looking over his shoulder to us. He then nods his head, telling me to go ahead.

I don't waste another second after that. The second I get the okay, I wrap my arms around him and bury my face into his shoulder, crying harder than I ever thought I would after hearing about someone quitting. Ohm holds me tightly in his arms, crying as well since he and I both know this will be the last time we'll ever get to see each other.

"I'm sorry," he whispers into my ear. "I didn't mean to say it. I didn't want to leave."

He then pulls away and kisses my forehead before pulling me back in for another hug.

Then, he whispers something else in my ear that makes my eyes widen. When he pulls away after that, he tries to wipe away his tears and he follows Tyler and Marcel out of the club. The last time I'm ever going to see him is now, as he looks back to me seconds before the door shuts on him.

Brock pulls me over and hugs me, telling me he's sorry for everything that's happened today. However, I'm hardly listening. Ohm's voice just keeps replaying in my head, with the last words I'm ever going hear him tell me.

_"The second you can, get the hell out of here."_


	16. Getting Out

"We're sorry, you have reached a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service. If you feel that you have reached this recording an error, please check the number and try your call again."

I hang up the phone and redial the number, staring blankly at the ceiling. After the events from last night, Panda decided to close the club in order to clean it and give us a night to collect ourselves. I didn't get much sleep however. Maybe a nap for an hour or two. All I could think about was losing the two people that helped me when I was so low. Gave me a place to sleep when I was about to sleep in the rain or under a bridge. Gave me a job, a place to call home, and a family... One is now dead, and the other...

"We're sorry, you have reached a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service. If you feel that you have reached this recording an error, please check the number and try your call again."

It hasn't even been twelve hours since I watched that door shut behind him, and his number is already gone. I've been calling it for an hour now, and I always get the same stupid message... But I can't help it.... Part of me is just hoping that it will go through with the next redial. That he'll answer and we can go for our morning run. He can finish teaching me how to give a good lap dance, and he would be here to help me when I really need him.

"We're sorry, you have reached a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service. If you feel that you have reached this recording an error, please check the number and try your call again."

I haven't moved since I got home last night. I've stopped crying long ago, and I have been hoping to wake up from this nightmare for too long now. I don't want to get up. I don't want to do anything. I don't want to talk to anyone... I just want my friends back.

"We're sorry, you have reached a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service. If you feel that you have reached this recording an error, please check the number and try your call again."

Hanging up the phone, I finally look at the screen and see a picture of Ohm and me in our work uniforms. It was a slow night, not many people I had to take care of, so I spent a good chuckle of the night talking to him and Bryce backstage. The three of us started fooling around on snapchat, when Ohm pointed out that we hadn't really taken any pictures together, so we started doing just that. I made the best ones their pictures on my phone... _Funny. What once was a happy memory hurts so much now._

I redial the number and pull it back to my ear.

"We're sorry, you have reached a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service. If you feel that you have reached this recording an error, please check the number and try your call again."

I pull my phone away and look back to my phone again. I hang up and am just about to redial the number again, but stop when I see a text come up from Panda. I open it and see that he had sent a mass text to everyone.

_**"Due to the events of last night, I'm going to close the club again tonight. If anyone needs to talk, do not be afraid to turn to myself or the others for support."** _

I sigh and switch back to Ohm's information on my phone, redialing it again and bringing it back to my ear, just to hear that same stupid recording again. Hanging up the phone, I sigh. _He's really gone... I'm never going to see him again... No; he can't be. I just need to reach him._

I redial the number again, hoping to reach him this time, only to hear the same stupid message. If I could, I would probably be in tears by now, but I don't even have the energy to bring up a single teardrop. All I can do is hang up the phone and curl into a ball, hoping to fall asleep or something. I shut my eyes and feel them shoot open when I hear my phone going off.

I practically jump out of my skin at first, but then I think about it. Someone is calling me. My heart jumps as I reach over to grab my phone, hoping for Ohm's name to come up or an unknown number, but my heart drops back down hard when I see Brock's name on the screen.

I sigh before I lay on my side before I answer the call. "...Hello?"

"Hey Evan, how are you feeling?"

"Like shit."

"No offense, but you sound like it." We both stay silent for a bit before he coughs awkwardly and says, "Anyways, uh, I just, I wanted to make sure you were okay. I tried knocking on your door an hour or two ago, but you didn't answer."

I raise an eyebrow and pull my phone away from me ear, now looking at the time. I'm shocked to then see that it's now three. I had tried calling Ohm at seven, and got the text from Panda around eight or nine.

Biting my lip, I tell him, "Yeah, I've been better."

"What have you done today? I asked around and no one said they saw you go anywhere."

I look down before telling him, "Nothing. I've just been in bed all day... I don't want to do anything."

"You need to try to get out. I know that it's hard to do that, but, maybe spend some time with Smitty or go for a run. If you don't want to go alone, Marcel or I could go with you."

I sigh, "Can't I just stay home today?"

"Evan; I know how you're feeling. Right now, it's probably better for you to get out. If you keep laying in bed, you're not going to find any reason to get up any other day. Just try to do something, please."

I groan and sit up. "Alright; I'll go see if Smitty wants to play games or something."

"Thank you. Oh, and I got the documents from my cousin, and I'm about to go drop them off with my uncle. He'll take care of getting you into the school and let me know when you can sign up for you classes."

"Alright, thanks."

"Okay, I'll talk to you later. Bye."

After I hang up the phone, I slide out of bed, put a hat over my messy hair, and put on my shoes before I walk out of my apartment. I look out towards the courtyard and see half of the dancers and servers hanging out. I've never really seen them all come out like this, but they all seem to be celebrating the day off. They look so happy... _I guess I would be too if this day off wasn't for this reason._

I turn away from them and walk upstairs, going to the third door on the second floor. Then, just as I'm about to knock, the door opens, and Smitty was just about to run into my hand.

"God- Evan? How are you feeling?"

I bring my hand back and shrug. "I've been better. I wanted to see if you wanted to hang out or something."

"Oh, uh, fuck."

"Did you already have plans," I ask, a bit sadden by his reaction.

"Actually, I did. You remember that guy I was telling you about? The guy I met online."

"Yeah?"

"Well, he's kind of in town right now, looking at apartments and, well, we were going to finally meet face to face."

"Oh, I see," I say, admittedly upset to hear this.

"I can cancel if-"

"No," I say loudly, shaking my head as I look up to him. "No, it wouldn't be fair for you to miss out on this chance just for me."

"Evan, he will understand. You just lost two people that have known you longer than I have."

"I know, but I just spent, like, two weeks with Jon. You should be allowed to see whoever you're dating."

"John."

"What?"

"My boyfriend is also named John."

I chuckle at that. "Well, you should go see him."

He smiles and shuts his door behind him, locking it. He then turns around and hugs me. "Thanks for understanding, man. I promise, we'll hang out tonight. When I get back, I'll bring over a pizza and we'll play whatever you want all night."

I laugh and push him off. "As if. You probably won't come home until tomorrow morning."

He laughs back and we walk downstairs together before I wave him off, watching him walk to the parking lot. I let out a deep sigh and walk back to my apartment, keeping my eyes on the floor. Once I get into my apartment, I take off my hat and shoes and walk over to my kitchen, dropping my phone onto my counter before I jump onto my bar stool.

Resting my head in my hand, I stare at my phone, wishing for it to ring on its own. After a minute though, I pick it up and unlock it, showing me Ohm's information. I dial it again and put it to my ear again.

"We're sorry, you have reached a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service. If you feel that you have reached this recording an error, please check the number and try your call again."

I sigh, disappointed that I got that same stupid message again. Hanging up the phone, I look back to the profile. I can't help but wish that I had more time with him. More time to talk. More time to hang out. More time to say goodbye.

Placing my phone back on the counter, I put my head in my arms and shut my eyes. I may have just woken up, but I already feel tired again.

Shutting my eyes, I feel my body start to turn cold. My heart is aching and I want to do nothing be sleep the rest of the day away. I don't remember what happiness felt like, I don't remember what anger felt like. I feel empty.

**I want to go to sleep, and never wake up.**

_"Fight it,"_ I hear someone say. _"Fight it. Don't let it win. Get away."_

I open my eyes and look around, seeing that I'm alone. _That voice... It's so familiar._

_"Fight it, Evan. I know you can do it."_

_I know that voice._

"Mom?"

I jump once I hear my phone start to ring, clinching my heart as I try to calm myself down. Taking a deep breath, I shake out the weird thought that was just in my head and grab my phone. After all, it was most likely a dream, or I was just hearing things.

Shaking my head, I pick up my phone and look at the screen, seeing Jonathan's name pop up. I smile at it, thinking that this might be just what I need right now.

Answering the call, I put my phone to my ear and say, "Hey."

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"What do you mean?"

"I can tell that you're upset. You're voice sounds different."

I look down and lean against my counter. "Some... Some stuff happened yesterday. It's... It's hard to talk about."

"Come over."

"What?"

"Come over. If it's hard for you to talk about, I want to hold you while you tell me about it. I want to hear it and see if there's anything I can do to make you feel better. So, come over."

"But-"

"I'll send you my address. I would go to you, but Tyler said he was going to hang out with some of the dancers from your club since it was closed today."

"I... You know what, okay. Let me get dressed and I'll be right over."

"I'll see you soon."

When I hang up the phone, I stare at the phone a bit shocked. I can't help but feel weird that he knew something was wrong and for him to call me and tell me to go over...

_"The next thing to know about when you're dealing with a potential creep,"_ I hear in Ohm's voice. _"Is to never go to their house with them until you feel like you're ready to. If they aren't trying anything, then they will respect that. If they push you to do that, then get away from them. Because if they are going to be that pushy about you going to their house with them, God only knows what they want, and why they're pushing so hard. Plus, if it was for nothing but to just have you there, then what else would they push you to do when you don't want to do anything."_

_Until I feel ready... Do I feel ready to go over?... Do I have a choice?_

I stand up and walk to my room. Brock told me he didn't want me to stay locked up in my apartment all day, and Smitty is off with his boyfriend. I don't want to hang out with anyone else, but Jon... I just hope this is a good decision.


	17. Going Out

When I pull away from the guard station, I follow the directions he told me until I get to the visitors parking garage. Pulling into a open spot, I get out of my car and text Jon, letting him know that I'm here. He never told me what his apartment number was, so I have to wait for him to text it to me.

After a few minutes, I lean against my car as I stare at my phone, waiting for him to text back. However, I get nothing. I start to get annoyed by how long he is taking to text me back.

_Maybe this is a sign or something. Maybe I should just leave now._

Just as the thought starts to come into my head, I feel someone lean against my car beside me and hear them say, "You a watched phone doesn't ring, right?"

I look to the person and gasp, now seeing Jon right next to me. "What are you doing here?"

"I live in this building," he laughs as he slides his arm behind me. He then pulls me closer to him, and I turn to him completely before I hug him, wrapping my arms around his neck as he wraps his around my waist.

"You know what I mean, jackass," I laugh.

"I wanted to walk you up to my apartment." He lets me go and I do the same after him. With a small smile on my face, I take his hand and walk with him as he leads the way up to his apartment, which is on the fifth floor, of the building.

Once we walk in, I instantly scan the room. Three bar stools along an island in the kitchen, couch and chair around a coffee table, desk and chair behind the couch, and a tv on the wall with a stand under it. Overall, it's not what I expected to see.

"Did you decorate this place?"

"Nah, I just got the money for it. My sister bought everything and placed it wherever."

_That makes sense._

"So, you want to tell me what happened," he says as he walks us over to the couch.

I sit next to him and bite my lip. "Not really."

"But you're going to tell me anyways, right?"

"Not like I have a choice," I chuckle. I sigh and shut my eyes, trying to think of the right things to say.

_I Don't want to talk. I don't want to say it. If I say it... I have to accept that it's all true. And... I don't want it to be true. I want Bryce to be alive, fighting to get over his addiction, trying his best to live a normal life. I want Ohm to be here now, teaching me how to be an amazing dancer like him. One that Panda would be proud of to have on his team._

"Evan," Jonathan says, putting one hand on my shoulders and the other on my forearm. "I only want you to tell me because I can tell that this is hurting you. Your voice on the phone, it sounded like you were done."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, whenever I hear someone talk like that in person, it makes me worry that they are going to do something stupid to get away from what is bothering them. I care about you too much to see you do something that you're going to regret later. So, please, tell me what's wrong."

I look over to him and we lock eyes. I can see how much worry is brewing in them, and it makes the shattered pieces of my heart ache. The last thing I want to do is make him worry, but if I stay silent, that's all I'm going to do... This is going to kill me... But I have to. I really don't have a choice in this. At least, not one that will help me in the end.

I take a deep breath and shut my eyes again, turning away from him as I gather up any ounce of courage I have, and I find the right words to say. Though, the words are swirling around in my head, and getting caught in my throat as I make myself say it.

"Yesterday... There was a thing that happened at work."

"Yeah, Tyler told me," he says, worry hiding behind in his words. "I thought that that had something to do with you after our call."

"It wasn't really me. More of the people I cared about the most at the club... My friend, Bryce... He died yesterday at the club."

"Oh god," he almost yells, taking one of his hands off of me, but keeping the other on my shoulder.

"I... I didn't know... He... He was addicted..." The words struggle to get out. I don't want to say it. I don't want to think of Bryce like that, and I don't want it to be true. It's bad enough that I had to admit that he was gone, but to admit that he had a unknown drug problem...

I fight back my tears that are trying to dig their way out, and I force the words out as hard as I can, causing my aching heart to hurt so much more. "He was addicted... Addicted to Xanax."

Jonathan stays silent, but he tights his hand on my shoulder a little, telling me that he heard me. "Everyone knew but me. No one told me for some reason, so I didn't know what he was doing... I... I knew he had a drinking problem. But... But I didn't know he was mixing-"

I get cut off by him pulling me close and hugging me. "Don't say anymore," he whispers to me. I wrap my arms around him and hold onto him tightly as I continue to fight back my tears. "I'm sorry that happened. I don't know who this Bryce guy is, but I know that if one of my friends died, I would be just as depressed as you. If they died in the same place as me, I don't know what I'd do."

I shake my head and wipe away a few tired that had forced their way out. Then I say, "That's... That's not all that happened."

He pulls me out of his chest and looks at me with a shocked and confused expression. I take a deep breath before I ask, "Do you remember my friend that told you my name?"

"Yeah, he was the dancer that wore a mask and bunny ears, right?"

I nod before I look away from him. My throat quickly dries up, making me have to drag the words out. "A-after the police left... My boss and him got in a fight... He and Bryce use to date, an-and they were roommates, so he... He took it really hard... I don't know what happened, but... But next time I saw him he was getting pushed out the back door. He... He quit."

"He quit?"

I nod. "And... There's a rule that says after we quit, we can't talk to anyone from the club anymore."

"What?!"

"We're the best gay club in the city," I say, tears starting to stream out of my eyes. "We had some former dancers try to talk our dancers into leaving the club for another. To stop it, Panda made a rule. If you quit or are fired, you are to leave the club, move out of the apartment in the next six hours, and never speak to the current dancers."

"Well, what would they do if you did talk to them?"

"They would be fired. Hard to call someone a friend when they get you fired."

"Evan, that's bullshit. You guys should be allowed to talk if you want to."

"It doesn't matter," I say, pulling my phone out. I dial his number for the millionth time today. "I know I could have gotten in trouble, but I at least wanted to talk to him one more time. But, every time I called him, I got this."

I put the phone on speaker just in time to hear the message. "We're sorry, you have reached a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service. If you feel that you have reached this recording an error, please check the number and try your call again."

He blinks and stares at the phone in silence as it just ends the call without me having to press anything. "... I... I thought he just quit last night."

"He did. And I texted him yesterday, so I know that it was working then. He turned off his phone so fast, and I don't know what to do now." I put my phone back in my on his coffee table and curl up on the couch, bringing my legs up and hugging them close to my chest. "He was the only person I felt like I could turn to. And now... I just feel so lost."

The two of us stay silent for a while before Jon stands up and walks to a room in the back of his apartment, not saying a word to me. My eyes follow him as he leaves, leaving me alone.

Soon however, I hear him talking through the wall. "Hey, question. Was Tyler going with you guys tonight?... Would it be cool if Evan and I joined you guys?... No, and I swear to god, Luke, if any of you touch him like how Brian did-... Alright. And where was it at?.... Alright. See you at ten."

After a few seconds, he walks out, and I see that he's doing something on his phone. He pushes his back against the wall behind him and continues to mess around on his phone, not once does he even look up to me. After a minute, he starts to walk over to me, but he doesn't get off his phone until he is right in front of the couch. He then puts it in his pocket and sits next to me, putting his arm around me and pulling me over to him.

I pull away however and ask, "What was all that?"

He gives me a half smile and says, "Well, my friends were going to hang out at a club tonight, so, I asked them if we could join."

"What?"

"Look, normally, I wouldn't do this or even think about going out. But with all of this going on, I think one night out will help you. Just to take your mind off of it."

"I work at a club. I don't-"

"It's a different club, babe. This is a night club. All we'll be doing is drinking and dancing. No clothes will be removed... Well, unless some hoochie randomly decides she's too hot, but, chances are low for that happening."

"But you said you don't drink."

"I don't. But, tonight, I think you should at least get a little tipsy. Just to help you relax."

"But Bryce had a drinking problem. Why would I want to drink after my friend died thanks to that stuff?"

"You act like I would want you to drink regularly. No, this is a one time thing to get you to stop thinking about it for one night. After this, I want you to go talk to your boss or your friends and let all of this out. Maybe have a cry with them to get your emotions out. Bottling them up won't help you, you know."

I look down again and sigh. "You're not going to take no for an answer, are you?"

He pulls me close to him again and kisses my forehead. "It's just for tonight, baby."

I take a deep breath and look up to him, locking eyes with him. Soon, I give him a little smile and say, "Fine. What time will we be going?"

"Ten. That gives us some time to relax, wait for the pizza I just ordered, which should be here in an hour, and watch a movie," he says as he turns on his TV and putting on Netflix. He then looks over to me and smirks. "Although," he starts, running one of his hands up to my thigh before he starts gently rubbing it. "It will take an hour for the pizza to get here. I think that's plenty of time for us to have a little fun."

I feel my face heat up and I quickly push his hand off of me. "Maybe another night."

He chuckles and shrugs his shoulders. "Hey, it didn't hurt to ask. Alright." He wraps his arm around me again and pulls me close to him again before he starts scrolling through the list of movies on Netflix. "So, what do you want to watch?"

I smile and rest my head on his chest as he scrolls through each of the recommended movies in his list.

Time quickly gets away from us, and by the time we get half way through the third movie we were watching, it was time for us to start heading over to the club to meet his friends. He grabs his keys and leads me to the parking garage again, leading me to his designated parking spot. However, I feel my blood turn cold when I finally get to see his car. Or, should I say his truck.

_Black, four door truck... Is it the same one that followed me after our first date?_

"Is something wrong," Jon asks. I hadn't even noticed, but when I saw the truck, I had stopped in place.

I quickly snap back to reality and force a smile. "Oh, it's nothing," I lie. "I've just- I've never seen your car before."

"Oh yeah, I normally walked you to your car after our dates. Well, what do you think?"

"It's... It's really nice. How long have you had it?"

"A few months. Though, I try not to drive it too much. Gas is a pain in the ass."

He and I walk over to the car and I can't help but feel more and more nervous as we step closer to the car. He opens the passenger side door for me, and just as I'm about to step into the truck, he turns me around and locks his lips with mine. I'm shocked at first, but soon feel more relaxed as the kiss goes on.

My eyes slowly shut as I rest one foot on the side of his truck and wrap my arms around his neck. His kiss admitted drives me crazy. His hands travel all over my body, rubbing my thigh and grabbing my ass, causing me to gasp in the middle of our kiss, which he takes advantage of, slipping his tongue in. However, he doesn't keep it in my mouth for too long. He pulls his tongue back for a few seconds and adds it back in when our lips part.

He soon slides his hand onto my leg again as he starts to push me into a the truck, and before I can react, he locks his hand under my thigh and pulls my leg up, making it rest against his. He then breaks our kiss, and as I let out a gasp for air, he quickly starts kissing along my jawline and down to my neck. I feel him start to lightly nibble and suck on my neck, and without even really wanting to, I let out a few low moans.

"J-Jon," I say through my shaky breath, and Jon finally stops and pulls away. We're both lightly panting, and we just stare into each other's eyes as we both calm down.

"Sorry," Jon then says before he lets go of my leg. "I just wanted a quick little make-out session before we left." He then chuckles before saying, "I just got a little too into the kiss."

I laugh and playfully push him, shaking my head before jumping into the truck. "Come on, your friends are waiting."

"Right, friends, got it." He shuts the door and jogs around to the driver side door, jumping in and stealing another kiss from me before starting the car.

I can't help but stare at him and smile as he starts to drive us out of the garage. Just being around him, kissing him, talking to him... It makes me happier than I want to be.

_There's no way he was the one following me that night... right?_


	18. The Morning After

I struggle to open my eyes as I wake up to the sun beaming in through the window. I'm in a bed in a room I don't recognize and my head is pounding. As I try to open my eyes more than half a centimeter, I try to remember what happened last night.

I remember driving through the heart of the city, seeing all the bars and clubs. Their lights were bright, and I was able to hear the music blasting from each club we passed. I remember walking with Jon to get to the club. We didn't even get carded or wait in line because he knew the bouncer.

I remember meeting his friends at a table, one of them being the guy who grabbed me. He apologized the second Jon said something to him, but I could easily tell that he, as well as half of Jon's friends, were already drunk, or at the very least buzzed.

I remember meeting Luke, and he tried asking about Ohm, but Jon told him to stay off that subject. Then, they poured me a drink. It was whiskey, and it tasted like candy. After the first couple of shots, I remember dancing with Jon. But after that, everything gets fuzzy. I don't even remember what I talked about with his friends, or most of their names.

After crawling out of the bed, I look down at myself and see that I'm wearing everything that I had on last night. I look around the room and see a dresser, a bookshelf filled with textbooks, games, figures, and a teddy bear on top of it, and next to me and the bed is a nightstand. On top of the nightstand, I see some pills and a glass of water.

I pick up the pills and take a look to see what they are. I smile when I recognize them though. _Aspirin._ I pop them in my mouth and take a drink of water, hoping that this will get rid of this pounding headache.

I walk out of the room and look around, however, once I step out into the living room, I quickly pick up on where I am. I'm back at Jonathan's apartment.

I continue to look around the apartment and see that I'm here alone. He didn't even leave a note for me to read. When I walk into the kitchen, I see that my keys and phone are on the counter. I pick up my phone and check the time, seeing that it's ten in the morning, and that I have twenty text messages and over fifty missed calls from Brock and Smitty. I open them and see that they are all from last night, and they are both asking me where I am and if I'm okay.

I curse under my breath before I grab my keys and shove them and my phone into my pocket. I then rush to the door, but as I reach my hand out to grab the doorknob, it opens, and Jon stands in front of me with a paper bag in his arm.

"Whoa, morning," he says as he takes a step back to keep us from running into each other. "How are you feeling?"

I sigh and put my hand on my head. "Like I got hit by a train."

"Not surprised," he says, walking into the apartment, shutting the door behind him and walking into the kitchen. "You had twelve shots of Fireball before we got kicked out of the club."

"We got kicked out?"

"Mark and Brian were acting like idiots and Luke was getting loud. We got kicked out around midnight and went to Mark's work got late night burgers. You and I didn't get back until two in the morning."

"I... I don't remember any of that."

"Again, not surprised. Did you take the aspirin I left for you on the nightstand?"

"Uh, yeah. Thanks... Why was I in your bed?"

He looks over to me as he pulls out something from the bag and he raises an eyebrow. "What; did you think I would have you sleep on the couch? You passed out on the drive back and I put you in the bed, while I took the couch. It was only fair since I couldn't get you back to your apartment."

I look down and blush slightly. "Well, thanks for that." I then look up to the two aluminum wrapped things from the bag that he was about to place on the counter. "What's that?"

He picks one of them back up and tosses it over to me. "Chorizo, potato, and egg burrito. Figured you'd be hungry, so I picked these up from a Mexican restaurant that's down the street."

I smile before I say, "Thanks. I'll have to eat this a little later though. I have to get back to my apartment."

He looks a bit disappointed after I say that, but he takes a deep breath and walks over to me. "Alright. I was hoping to get to spend some more time with you, but I get that you need to get back." He kisses my forehead before he then smiles at me. "Last thing I want is to get you in trouble with Tyler."

I smile back at him before I wrap my arms loosely around his neck and give him a long, loving kiss. When we pull away, I feel my heart start to ache a bit. I don't want to leave, but I know I have to. Smitty and Brock are worried about me, and the last thing I want is for Tyler to get dragged into this.

So, I say goodbye and walk out of his apartment and down to my car. When I get in my car, I pull out my sunglasses and put them on before I pull out of the parking garage and start drinking back to my apartment.

After a somewhat long drive, I finally get back to my apartment complex. Leaving my sunglasses on, I start walking straight to my apartment, keeping my head down and not looking around. The throbbing in my head is starting to calm down, but I still can feel the headache just larking in the back of my mind.

"Evan," I hear someone yell from the other side of the courtyard. I instantly know who that voice belonged to and I quickly speed up, rushing to my apartment. "Evan," Brock yells again, his voice sounding a little closer.

"Oh no you don't," I hear Smitty yell before I hear the sound of someone running behind me.

I quickly book it back to my apartment, trying to unlock the door as fast as I can, but by the time I get my door open, Brock and Smitty grab me from behind and push me into the apartment, walking in and shutting the door behind them. Biting my lip, I quickly walk to the kitchen, trying not to look at them. However, Smitty quickly runs over and grabs my arms, forcing me to turn back to Brock, who walks right to me and pulls off my glasses. He makes me look up to him and I see anger burning in his eyes.

"Where the hell did you go last night, Evan?! Why do you look hungover?!"

"He smells like alcohol too," Smitty adds in.

I quickly pull my arms out of Smitty's hands and pull my face away from Brock. "I was just out trying to relax with Jon. Leave me alone, guys."

"Who the hell is Jon?!"

"Evan," Smitty yells, turning me around to face him. "Do you realize what type of danger you put yourself in?! You could have gotten hurt! You could have gotten killed! You could have gotten raped!"

"But I didn't!"

"Hold up," Brock yells, putting his hands up. "Let's take this from the top! Who the fuck is Jon?!"

"Jon is Evan's boyfriend," Smitty says as he pushes me over to the couch and makes me sit down. "He's also Tyler's friend."

"Oh hell no! Evan, he's got to be in his twenties!"

"He's only three years older than me," I say, rolling my eyes and looking away from the two in front of me. "Besides, he just wanted to go out with me and his friends. Nothing happened."

"Evan, someone spiked your drink! You smell like-"

"I drank whiskey! No one spiked shit!"

"You what?!"

"Evan," Brock yells, shaking his head. "What were you thinking?! You're underage! What is this guy even doing dating you?! Can't he get someone his age!"

"Hey, he's shown to really care about me!"

"Does he?! Does he even know how old you are?!"

"No, but-"

"No buts, Evan! What you're doing is stupid, and immature, and-"

"Something a teenager would do," Smitty says in a lower voice. Brock and I look over to him before he sighs and I see him trying to calm down. After possibly a minute, he turns to Moo and says, "Brock, we have to remember that and try to calm down. He's only seventeen."

"Yeah, which is why he shouldn't be going out, drinking, dating a twenty year old, or ignoring our calls and texts!"

"I didn't ignore them," I quickly say. "I left my phone at his apartment by accident," I lie. Honestly, I don't even remember what I did with my phone last night. "I didn't see your calls or text until this morning. When I saw them, I quickly said goodbye and left."

"Brock, are you also saying that you didn't drink when you were underage?"

"Well... Okay, fine. But that doesn't change the fact that he's dating a twenty year old!"

"Well, Evan is living on his own and is working in a strip club. He isn't exactly like us when we were teens."

"But he shouldn't even be working at the club!" Brock looks down and I can see tears starting to build in the corners of his eyes. "He should be going to school, worrying about spending time with his friends, thinking about college. Not all this."

"But you know that wouldn't have been my life, right," I tell him, admittedly, a bit snappy.

He stays silent for a bit before he takes a deep breath and walks over to me, sitting next to me on the couch. "Look, I'm sorry for being harsh, but you have to see it through our eyes. All we can see is someone too young getting mixed up in a dark world. None of us want you to get hurt, so, yeah, we're going to be a bit over protective."

"All we want is to make sure that you're safe, Evan. Honestly, I'm disappointed that you drank whiskey with someone you have only known for less than a month, but I don't blame you. Ohm and Bryce are gone, and I know how close you were with them. You miss them. And I should have stayed to talk to you and help you. But when Brock told me that you weren't home when I got back, he and I were worried sick. We didn't know where you were and we didn't know if you were hurt or whatever. We tried calling and texting you over and over, and you weren't answering. We were worried."

Guilt hits me hard and I suddenly start to feel sick. "I... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you worry."

I feel Brock put his arm around me and he gently starts to rub my shoulder. "Look, I'm sorry for yelling at you, but you understand now why I did, right?" I nod. "Next time you go out, just tell us. You could just text Smitty if you want, but just let us know so if something were to happen to you, we know where to look."

"Which you should have remembered from Ohm's creeper lessons."

_"Always tell a friend when you're going out with this guy until you feel like you fully know him,"_ I hear in Ohm's voice as my mind goes back to his lesson. _"This is for safety. If you were to go missing or something happened to you, you need to know that your friends at the very least know where you're going and who you're with."_

I nod and and quietly say, "I'm sorry. I completely forgot about that lesson. I promise, I won't forget again. I'll let you guys know the next time I go see him."

Brock sighs and pulls me in for a hug, but it's more one sided. I can't help but feel like complete shit for making them worry about me like that.

When Brock pulls away from the hug, he gently pats my back and so says, "So... You mind telling me about this guy?"

"Actually," Smitty then says as he starts walking over to my kitchen. "I don't think you've told me much about him either. You always talked about him with Ohm, but I didn't get the chance to hear about him since Ohm started teaching you how to keep safe before your first date."

I blush slightly and smile a bit. "Well, he and I met at the party for Tyler's friend. He tried talking to me there, but Tyler kept pulling him away. But, when Tyler's friend, Brian, grabbed me, he actually was the one who pulled him off of me. After that, he and the rest of the party got kicked out. The next day, when Ohm and I went on our morning run, he popped out of no where and asked me out."

"How the hell did he run into you the day after," Smitty asks as he walks back over and hands me a bottle of water, which I happily take.

"He told me that he and the guys went to a hotel not too far from the cafe Ohm and I always stopped by."

"Well, what's he like," Brock asks.

"He's actually really sweet and funny. He actually pushed for me to start thinking about going back to high school and college."

"I'm liking him so far."

I laugh before I continue talking about everything. _So far, I'm liking how things are playing out. Hopefully, things stay like this, just for a while longer._


	19. The Club Has a Problem

A few weeks have gone by, and Smitty and Brock have been trying to keep me by at least one of their sides at all time. It seems, despite them saying that my disappearing for a night was okay, and to not do it again, they don't fully trust that I'll keep my promise, and they want to make sure I'm both okay and doing what I've said I would do.

So, the second I got the green light to start online classes, Brock has been on my ass, making sure that I get as much done in every class I take, even on the weekends. Smitty then comes over to play games with me and relax at my apartment, but I know that he's only keeping an eye on me to make sure I don't take off without a warning again. Even at work, it just doesn't feel the same.

Now that I know that everyone there has a "kink" to get them through the day, I can't help but see the signs now. The faded white lines on their vanities, the number of drinks I serve them, the cans of energy drinks under Chilled's and Mini's vanities. The worst are the needles that they wrap up in tissue paper and throw away. Now that I've seen them, I can't get them out of my mind.

I know that they can all be better than this, but I don't know how to get them all to stop. At least, I don't know how to do it alone.

So, when we finally had a slow night at the club, I made my way up to Panda's office and knocked on the door before going in. He's behind his desk, going over paperwork for the club, and without looking up, he tells me to come around the desk. I do as he asks, and stand beside him as he looks over the paperwork, which I see are resumes to take the now open positions.

"Most of these kids haven't impressed me," he groans as he puts a stack of resumes in the trash. "The only one that I've even thought about hiring is this one," he says, handing me a resume for a guy named Scotty. "He has server experience and the picture he sent with it is of him wearing a Hooter's uniform."

"Why did he send that picture?"

"He isn't the first. A lot of guys will wear that uniform since it's the closest they can get to ours, and it shows off what I need to really see." He pulls over another pile of resumes and hands them to me. "I want to see what you can do now. I want you to think about the rules and standards we have here and I want you to look through these, and pick out who you think would work best for our team."

I take the stack of resumes and look at him, wide eyed. "Really?"

"Yeah. I want to test your judgement and see if you'd be able to create a team this club can work with."

I nod and look at the resumes, walking over to the couch and going over each and every one of them. As I read the resumes, I look at each picture that came with it and see if the body type would work with our standards. Each one sounds decent and would seem like a good member for the team, but there's one that stands out the most. A college student named Steven Viking. Curly brown hair, a beard, and a innocent look in his eyes. It catches my attention without trying, so I know he would definitely work out with all of us here.

I grab his resume and walk back over to the desk and slide it over to Panda. He looks it over before he looks back to me and asks, "Is this really the one you think would work best? He doesn't really have the look we normally hire."

"That's why I think he would work with us. He has more of an innocent look to him, and under his hobbies and interests, he has a lot of things that are, well, kind of nerdy."

"All the more reason-"

"He isn't a bad looker," I quickly say, cutting him off before he can turn this guy down. "He isn't as pretty as Bryce was, but he has a really good look. I know he doesn't have the body type we normally have here, but give him a couple months and it'll be were you want it."

He stays silent for a bit and just stares at the resume. After a couple minutes, he sighs and puts the resume on top of the other one he wanted. "Alright. I'll call him in for a interview." He then leans back in his seat and asks, "Now, why did you come up here?"

"I wanted to talk to you about everyone."

"What do you mean?"

"Well," I say, looking to the window that shows off the club. "Everyone seems to have a drug problem."

"... I'm aware of that."

I snap my head back to look at him in shock. "Why haven't you done anything about it?"

"It's not like I don't want to, Evan. But there's nothing I can say or do to get them to stop. Unfortunately, when it comes to drugs, as I'm sure you know, you can't force someone to stop. They're going to have to want to. Something these guys don't want to do."

"But-"

"Evan," He starts, standing up and walking over to the window. "I've tried to stop this before. But, the club isn't enough to get them to stop."

"What do you mean," I ask, walking over.

"I mean, most of these guys think of this place as a job. It's were they go to put in some hours and a paycheck after two weeks. Yes, they love the others here, but that's about it. They don't have much to keep them clean or a reason for them to get clean."

"What? That's not-"

"Don't," he sighs before turning his head away. "Just think about it. What holiday is coming up in a couple of weeks?"

I blink before I say, "You mean, Thanksgiving?"

"Yes. Think back to the last two years. Back when Ohm and Bryce dragged you in here and when you actually worked here. Who did you see here?"

I raise an eyebrow and say, "Uh, pretty much everyone."

"That wasn't really by choice though."

"What?"

"Evan, I only have the club open on Thanksgiving to give an excuse to have everyone here. That's why I close the club early and order catering for everyone. And I do all of it, because no one has anyone." He sighs before he walks over to his bar, and I look out into the club. "This is a gay strip club, Evan. This isn't exactly the place everyone would be proud of their children to work in. After all, over a million kids are kicked out of their homes and/or disowned by their families for being gay or transgender or anything that isn't straight and whatever gender they were born as. Some parents are so embarrassed by their children going into adult entertainment that they cut them out of their lives. Mix those two together, and the chances of having someone in your family that still loves you is so slim that it might as well not be there."

I just stare out into the club in complete shock. I never knew that anyone had to go through any of that.

My mind soon goes back to my parents and the idea of how they would feel about me working here. The idea that scares me so much, and that is coming to me much stronger than before now that Panda has told me this.

"Would my parents..." When my fear causes the words to get caught in my throat, Panda walks back over to me and puts a hand on my shoulder, pulling me close to him.

"They more than likely don't even care about you anymore." My heart drops and I feel a stinging pain in its place. "I'm sure you thought about that by now, Vanoss. You've been here for so long, and we've had police officers come in and out daily. They know who you are and how old you are, but they haven't done anything. That's because they don't have a reason to."

"W-What do you mean?"

"I mean, no one has put in a missing person report for you. No one is looking for you."

I feel my heart breaking as I think about his words. _My parents... aren't looking for me... Part of me has always known that... but I wanted to hope that..._

"But that doesn't matter anymore," Panda then says, patting me on the back. I look over as he takes a drink of his whiskey before he continues. "After all, even if you're parents are pieces of shit, you still have this club and all of us. Even if the guys are always high or drunk at work, we all still care about each other."

I just continue to stare out into the club as I watch Lui take the stage. I watch as he runs over to the pole, jumping onto it, spinning around the pole with his legs wrapped tightly around it.

"That last thing any of us want to do is watch you or anyone get hurt. That's why everyone took Ohm leaving and Bryce's death so hard."

"They did?"

"Of course. I'm sure you noticed everyone gathered in the courtyard at the apartment. They spent half of the night doing different things from different cultures to pay their respects for Bryce, making sure that his soul passed on and that it would rest peacefully."

"Th-they did?! B-but when I saw them, they were all talking and laughing, eating in the courtyard."

"They were telling stories about Bryce and Ohm. You do remember that they had both been here for a lot longer than you. They had gotten close with everyone here."

"How do you know about all of this?!"

"Why do you think I closed the club for two days? It was for everyone to get the chance to morn our lost. Not to mention, after I was done taking care of things here, I had everyone come here since this was where Bryce breathed his last breath."

"You did?!"

"Of course. I know Ohm and I had a bit of a fight before he quit, but he and I were still good friends, and I cared greatly for Bryce. I actually asked where you were, but Moo told me you had locked yourself in your room that first day and you wouldn't come out."

_He lied for me?_

"I know that you were closer to Ohm, Bryce, and Smitty more than anyone else here. But it's important that you don't forget that you need to open to the rest of us. We're all here for you, and we will alwa- Oh my fucking God!"

My heart drops as well as Panda's glass, both shattering on the floor. I feel the blood rush out of my body as I press my hands against the window, fear coursing through my veins. Panda quickly runs out of the office, leaving me alone to try to process what we had just seen.

One second ago, Lui was spinning around the pole in the middle of the stage. He foot had just barely touched the ground and he was preparing to do a trick. Then, his face went pale white, and we watched, while he was leaning back, he let go of the pole, and fell off the stage.


	20. Exhaustion

I rush back stage with a bottle of water and push pass everyone as I make my way to Lui, who is now laying on the couch. Brock is standing front of him, holding his legs up to get the blood moving and to hopefully wake him up. I place my hand on his chest as I start to kneel down next to him, and I feel his heart beating much faster than I had ever felt it beat before.

"I still think it would have been better to keep him out there," Brock tells Tyler, who had carried Lui in here after he fell off the stage. "I don't know if this is going to effect him or not. Normally-"

"Look," Tyler quickly cuts him off as he pours some of the water from the bottle I brought onto a rag before he starts patting Lui's forehead. "I didn't know what else to do. I just didn't want any of those pervs to touch him. I would have done this no matter who fell. How long have you been holding his feet up?"

"It might have been five minutes. Longer than I should have, but we aren't exactly doing anything by the book with this situation. Lui? Can you hear me? Are you okay?" He doesn't say anything. "Fuck. Okay, Evan, move out of the way really fast. I need to put him into a different position."

I look back to Lui's face before I stand back up and take a few steps back. He looks so tired... I never even noticed how bad the dark circles were that were under his eyes.

"How did this happen," I say without realizing I was asking.

"He's tired," Brock says as he flips Lui onto his side and bends his knees and elbows. "He's had to work every single night since Ohm and Bryce left us, and he's had to play host all month."

"Host?"

"I wouldn't really call it that," I hear from behind us. When I turn around, I see Panda walking over to us. "I've had some people come in, and they are interested in investing into the club. There's a chance of making the club into a chain, which means I could open another club in town under the 'Big Bad Panda' name. I had Lui come in to entertain them, since he's one of the best we have. I was planning on bringing Ohm and Bryce, but that plan obsessively fell through, so I put most of my faith into Lui to get them to agree."

"Why didn't you ask anyone else to help out," I ask.

"He did," Mini quickly yells out. "Uh... I had been helping out too, but they mostly liked Lui."

"Oh really," Brock says in a weird tone.

"Okay," Panda yells out, kind of scaring me since I wasn't expecting anyone to yell. "The clients should have left the parking lot by now. Due to this incident, I am closing the club for the night. Everyone will be scheduled to work tomorrow, except for Lui, of course. I'll drive him back to the apartments when he wakes up."

"I'll stay here to watch over him," Brock then says, turning to Panda. "I'm sure you still have a lot of work that needs to be done, so I can keep an eye on him while you work, sir."

After the words leave his lips, I can't help but notice that Brock is actually glaring at Panda. Looking over to Panda, it's then that I notice that he's doing the same back to him. It feels like they are having a silent argument, and it doesn't end until Panda says, "Fine. You can stay to keep watch. Everyone else, change and go back to the apartments."

After he says that, everyone except Brock, him, and myself all go to the lockers and start changing out of their uniforms. I turn back to Panda and ask, "Is Lui going to be okay?"

Panda looks back to Brock and stays silent for a bit. He then turns back to me and says, "All we can do is wait and see. Hopefully he gets better, but for now, he just needs to rest. I'll give him the rest of the week off for that, but he needs to speak up if he has a problem with his hours. If he isn't getting enough sleep. Everyone's health is something we need to look out for."

After saying that, he turns and walks out of the room, most likely to go back to his office. Before I can move, I hear Brock tisk. I look back to him and see him shake his head as he glares at Panda. "He knows damn well that Lui needed a break. Even if he didn't go talk to him, he knew he was overworking him."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean he has had him working every single night. Half the time, Lui went over the eight hours we had to work, and this all started way before we lost Ohm and Bryce."

"But, he's one of the most popular dancers we have."

"That doesn't matter, Evan. We all work full-time, and we need to have at least one day off to rest. Lui rarely had a day off, and worked most of the morning. With how much work he had done, I'm not surprised he passed out. The human body can only take so much, and you need sleep and food to give you energy. Without it, your body will start to shut down. You could die." He then looks back to Lui and sighs before he says, "We're just lucky he's still breathing."

I look over to him, and watch as his chest slowly raises and falls with each breath he takes. "So, what happens now?"

"What happens now," Brock starts before he turns back to me. "Is that you will go back to the apartments and go straight to bed."

"What?"

"Go straight back to the apartments and go straight to bed."

"But-"

"Just go, Evan. I don't want you to go out and get hurt. Just go back to the apartments and go to bed. If you aren't tired, then work on your classes."

"I'm already caught up with the people who are actually in school."

"Well, you can be ahead or you could work to get caught up with your actual class."

"But-"

"Evan, stop arguing with me and go home." He then turns away from me and kneels down to Lui.

I can't help but groan in annoyance before I walk away from him. I honestly have no problem just going straight to the apartments, but the fact that he isn't giving me a choice in doing so is what's annoying me.

After changing out of my uniform, I walk out of the club and go straight to my car, where I see someone waiting for me. "What do you want, Smitty?"

"Lose the attitude. Brock wanted me to make sure you got home."

"Are you fucking kidding me?!"

"Wish I was, but he asked me to do that the second we knew Lui would be alright."

I groan and just walk to my driver side door. As I open the door however, I hear my phone go off in my pocket. I pull it out and see that it's a text from Jon, which instantly brings a smile to my face, and makes me open it right away.

**_"Hey babe, are you working tonight? Wanted to know if you wanted to come over and have dinner with me."_ **

When I open my car door, I sigh. I would love to go see him, but Brock made it pretty clear that I didn't have a choice in what happened. So, I start writing out a text tell him that I can't go, but stop when Smitty puts his hand on my shoulder.

"I won't say anything."

"What?"

"I won't tell Brock that you're going. Just go see your man."

"Seriously?"

"Dude, it's eight o'clock on a Friday. Just go see your boyfriend, and don't do anything stupid again. And send me his address so I know where to go to beat the shit out of him if he hurt you."

I smile and quickly delete my original text, replacing it with a quick 'on my way' before I hug Smitty. "Thank you so much, Lucas."

He chuckles and says, "Hey, don't look too deep into this. I mean, since you'll be with your boyfriend tonight, that mean I can sneak off to see mine too."

I laugh and pull away, leaning back into my seat and putting my arms on the door. "Did you finally tell him about the club rules?"

He rolls his eyes and groans. "Yeah, and he wasn't happy about them."

"How mad?"

"Actually, it felt like he was jealous or something."

"Jealous? Of what? People come to the club to stare at the guys on stage or at the servers."

"Remember what I said before though, some people do still try to grab me too and some flirt with me. I told him about some of the tamer incidents, but he didn't care about it back then. Now, he's just acting like a little bitch, freaking out about the idea of some guy staring at my ass. I don't know. I'm hoping he'll chill out more if we spend a bit more time together, but right now, he's just acting really jealous."

"Hopefully it does. You seemed really happy with him before. It'll be cool to see you guys that happy later on."

"Definitely. Now, let's not keep our boyfriends waiting too long." He then puts his finger in between my eyes and pushes me into my car. "I'll see you tomorrow morning." He then turns and starts walking to his car.

"Wait, does that mean I can spend the night with Jon?!"

"Nope! You better get your ass home by two! I'll be spending the night at my John's place!"

"That's not fair!"

"Fairs are for tourists, and you have nothing to do that would keep you out all night!"

I roll my eyes and pull my legs into my car, turning the engine on and then the light. Then, just as I pull out of my parking spot, I look over and see a truck parked in the middle of the parking lot. _Black with four doors._

I shake my head and quickly step on the gas, speeding out of the parking lot and getting onto the freeway as fast as I can. My eyes continuously jump to the rearview mirror, making sure that I'm not being followed. My heart doesn't stop beating until I get to the guard station to Jonathan's apartment complex. A relaxed smile comes back to my face as I drive past it and make my way to the visitors parking, and I make out a quick text to him, letting him know that I'm here.

After the two scares I just had in the past hour and a half, a nice dinner is exactly what I need.


	21. Dinner Date

"There's my sexy little stripper," I hear Jonathan say as he walks over to my car.

I smirk and push myself off of the car as I walk over to him, wrapping my arms around his neck and kiss him. His hands immediately slide around my waist and he pulls me close to him. When we break our kiss, he and I switch places. I wrap one of my arms around his waist and he wraps one of his arms around my neck before we start walking to his apartment.

"So, what were you thinking we could do for dinner," I ask him.

"I actually was going to cook chicken parmesan, but I thought it would be fun to cook with you."

I giggle before I bump him with my hip. "That definitely does sound like fun. I've never really cooked before."

"You haven't?"

I shake my head and look down. "I've mainly gotten things I could just heat up for the last two years."

"What about when you were living at home? Didn't your parents make you cook for a night or something?"

I shake my head again and try not to let my smile fall. It's a bit hard however. All that my mind is pulling out now is the fact that my parents never really bought food when their addiction took a hold of them. I remember sneaking out the window of my bedroom to steal food from some mom and pop stores. I remember how many nights I had such a hard time falling asleep because my stomach was growling so much. So many things that haunt me, but I can't let cloud my mind. I know they didn't mean for any of those things to have happen. It was their addiction. The darkness that hang over them. It wasn't them.

"Evan," I hear Jon say loudly, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"What?"

"Where did you go?"

"Uh, I'm sorry. I just have a lot on my mind right now."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

I think for a second, and decide that it would be best for me to talk about some of the things on my mind. I don't want to tell him about my family, however, "Something happened at work."

"Oh god, what happened this time?"

I take a deep breath and pull away, leaning again the wall next to his apartment door. "One of our most popular dancers fell off the stage."

"What? Is he okay?"

"He's fine. Luckily he didn't hit his head when he fell, but last I saw, he was still passed out."

"Do you guys know what caused him to fall," he asked as he opened the door and walked me into his apartment.

"Apparently he fainted due to exhaustion," I tell him as I closed the door. "He had been working every day since Ohm and Bryce left, and he was helping my boss talk to some possible partners."

"Partners?"

We walk over to his kitchen and I lean against the counter as he starts to pull out everything that we would need. "Panda had been thinking of opening more clubs under his name. He just needed some people to help us with the money. The club does well, but there have been cases where a successful business would open another store or something, and it fails. It's risky, but it could definitely pay out."

"So, he's trying to open another club, and he needs a partner to invest money into the club?"

"Yup."

"Would that partner be made the manager of the new club?" I look down and just stare at my hands. "You don't know?"

"I only just learned about this from Panda. I haven't really had the chance to talk about all of this with him yet."

I look over and see Jon's eyes widen and I notice that he's biting his lip. I can tell that he wants to say something, but he also doesn't want to say it. I've seen that look on so many people, and it always means the same thing. However, I also know that most of the time, even after you try to pull the truth out of the person, they will continue to bite their tongue. At least, that's how it always went for me.

I decide to drop the subject, and I smile to him. "So, what's the first thing we need to do to make this?"

He quickly glances over to me before he takes a deep breath and smiles back at me. "Well, I've been waiting for the chicken breast to thaw for a while, but it should be good now. Would you mind rolling it in eggs and breadcrumbs so we can bake them?"

"No problem," I tell him, smiling.

I listen to him as he tells me what to do and soon, I forget about everything that had been bothering me when I got here. As he and I worked together, he did everything he could to make me laugh, tease me, and make me blush. After a while, the club, Lui, Moo, everything and everyone leaves my mind. After a while, it was just him and I.

Possibly an hour goes by from when we started cooking, and all we had been waiting for was for the chicken to bake and the pasta to cool. Once the pasta had cooled off a bit, I started pouring some into two bowls for us. I gasp and almost drop the strainer however when I feel two hands grab my hips and I'm pulled back against a certain someone's body. I can feel his warm breath on the back of my neck, and I can't help but chuckle a bit. I put the strainer down on the counter as I push my body more against him and place my hands on top of his.

He started kissing the back of my neck, sucking and nibbling every now and then, causing a few low moans to escape. "Jon, come on. Dinner is almost done," I giggle as I shut my eyes and enjoy the feeling of his lips on me.

"I know," he whispers into my ear. "But I just can't help myself. I need to get a little taste of dessert."

When he says that, my eyes shoot open and I start to feel one of his hands starting to slide down my hip, onto my thigh, and as it starts to go back up, it comes around to my inner thigh. I gasp and quickly push myself off of him and turning around so that I'm facing him. Before I can say anything, he leans down and kisses me, wrapping his arms around me and holding me close to him. I kiss him back so that he doesn't think that anything is wrong, however, I start to mentally freak out when I feel his hand slide down my back, down to my butt.

My heart starts beating much harder than it ever has before. As much as I know that I love Jonathan, I can't go farther. I love him too much to risk getting him into trouble.

So before he can grab me, I quickly push him away and loudly say, "Wait!"

He looks at me, a bit confused, and waits for me to say something. Of course, nothing comes to mind. I just wanted him to stop before he did anything, so a reason for why I wanted him to stop did not come to mind.

So, I pull out the cheapest excuse I could come up with. "I don't feel well," I quickly say, putting my hands on my stomach. "Where's your bathroom?"

He blinks and gets a worried expression on his face before he says, "It's just down the hall. Babe, are you okay?"

"Yeah," I tell him as I start inching away from him. "I just feel like I'm about to be sick. Just give me a minute." As soon as I have a clear path, I instantly start running to the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind me. I then walk over to the sink and turn on the water, slashing some on my face.

When I look back into the mirror, I can still see the fear hiding in my eyes. "What am I going to do," I ask myself out loud. "This isn't the first time he's tried to push for me to do something. I need to get him to stop before I give in and he could get in trouble. I don't want him to go to jail because he had sex with me a few months before I turned eighteen!" I sigh and walk over to the toilet and sit on it with my head in my hands. "What am I going to tell him?"

I start going over ideas in my head, but I can't come up with anything good. So, after thinking about it and coming up with nothing, I pull out my phone and start looking over my numbers in it. However, about ninety percent of the numbers end up being useless. I can't ask someone like David, Marcel, or Mini, since they don't know about Jonathan. Only three numbers out of everyone can work, but only two are still functional. One of those two is busy right now, I just know it, and the other... The other is my only hope, and he's going to be pissed at me.

I dial the number and put the phone to my ear, waiting patiently for the person on the other end to pick up.

"Evan," Brock answers, confused. "Why are you calling me?"

"I need help," I whisper into the phone to make sure Jonathan doesn't hear me if he comes over to check on me. "I'm at Jonathan's apartment."

"You're where!? Evan, what the hell-"

"Smitty said it was okay," I quickly tell him. "I told him this time, and I sent him the address. Please Moo, I need your help."

"With what?! Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine. It's just, well," I take a deep breath and think of the best way to phrase the situation. "Jonathan wants to go farther."

"He what?!"

"He wants to-"

"I get it, Evan! This is why I said I don't want you to be dating this guy! I knew he would want to go farther, and you could-"

"I know," I hiss out as loudly as I can without yelling at Brock. "I know how stupid the situation is, and I know that I'm risking his freedom, his safety, and all of that. But I love him, Brock. And I know he loves me. I want to be with him, but I don't know what to tell him to keep him from wanting more. So please, can you help me? What can I tell him to get him to hold off on sex?"

"You can tell him the truth."

"He wouldn't want to be with me if I told him my age. I told him I was twenty-one. And I know, that was wrong and stupid, but who would date some they couldn't have that type of relationship with. Plus, I'd be risking the club. I can't do that."

He stays silent on the other end for a bit and I can feel my heart pounding in my chest as I wait for him to say something. Finally, he says, "Tell him a half truth."

"What?"

"Tell him that you're a virgin. It's not going to stop him, which is where the lie will come in. You're going to tell him that you want to wait until you know that he is the one. Tell him you want your first time to be special, and with the person that you want to spend the rest of your life with. If he really does care about you like you say he does, than that will stop him."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive."

I take another deep breath and stand up. "Alright. Thanks Brock."

"Don't worry about it. What you will have to worry about is how long will this date be. Because if you are not home before midnight-"

"We normally leave work at three."

"You're not at work!"

I roll my eyes and chuckle a bit. "How about one? And I won't going anywhere without telling you again."

He stays silent for a bit before he says, "Deal. Be careful on your way home."

Shortly after he says that, I hang up and turn the water off. Then, I walk out of the bathroom and into the living room, where I see Jonathan placing the chicken onto the bed of pasta and tops them off with the sauce. I hum as I step closer, smelling the food.

"That looks and smells delicious."

"Funny, I was thinking the same thing about you," he tells me before he winks at me. I shake my head and roll my eyes. "You've heard that one before."

"Try, a lot."

"That's not fair. You guys don't even have a kitchen at the club!"

"Yeah, but we got a dude with a food truck that is always willing to help us out."

He shakes his head and rolls his eyes. "Wow."

I chuckle before I walk closer to the food and smell the air around it. I then grab my fork and get some of the pasta and sauce before I take my first bite. I gasp and try to chew it and swallow as fast as I can as I try to air out my mouth.

Jon laughs and then decides to say, "Careful, it's hot."

I flip him off and quickly take a drink of water. Once my mouth cools down, I turn to him and shake my head. "Thanks for the heads up, babe. Was the sauce boiling when you put it on?"

"Just a little. But hey, we have some time to kill while our food cools down." He takes a few steps closer to me and runs his hand up and down my hip. "Why don't we have a little fun while we wait?"

I feel my heart skip a beat before I quickly push his hand off and I look up to him. "Actually, Jon, I need to talk to you about that."

He raises his eyebrow and looks at me confused. "What do you mean?"

I gulp and look down, worried about how this will play out. I then say, "I'm, uh," my heart is beating so hard that I can hear. "I'm a virgin."

I look back up and see that his eyes still has a hint of confusion in them, but the fact that he has his hand over his mouth as he tries to hold back his laughter is the main thing that catches my attention. He takes a few deep breaths and looks back to me, a smirk still on his face. "Are you serious?"

"Yes I'm fucking serious," I say, annoyed with his reaction.

"I'm sorry babe, but, how? You're a god damn stripper."

"Yeah, a stripper. As in I take off my clothes in front of people and they pay me. I don't have sex with them though. That's prostitution, which is illegal."

"Not if it's filmed."

"Jonathan!"

"I'm joking babe," he says as he laughs. "I just never thought I'd meet someone in the sex industry that had never had sex before. It's funny. It's ironic." He then steps towards me and wraps his arm around me again, pulling me close and tilting my head up so that he's looking into my eyes. "But you don't have to worry. I'll be gently."

I feel my heart beat harder again and I quickly push him away. "That's the other thing I wanted to talk about," I tell him loudly. He raises his eyebrow again and waits for me to say something. I dig back through my mess of a mind and try to remember what Brock had told me to tell him. "I want my first time to be special. I want it to be with the person I know I'm going to be spending the rest of my life with. So, I don't want to do anything, yet. Not until I know for sure."

My heart stops as I then watch him and wait to see what he would do. Although I said I know that he loves me, we hadn't said the words to each other yet. We've only been together for a month. I have no idea if it would be too soon or not to say it yet.

He sighs and shrugs. "If that's what you want. I'm not going to pressure you to do something you're not ready for." He then smiles at me. "Besides, you're worth the wait. Even if it's til the end of time, I'll wait for you."

I smile and quickly wrap my arms around his chest, hugging him tightly. Then, without thinking, I say, "I love you, Jon."

I hear him chuckle before he hugs me back, gently rubbing my arms as he says, "I love you too, Evan."


	22. New Members

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ***Trigger Warning***

"Damn it," I say as I look at the time. It feels like Jon and I had just started talking on Skype, and yet, over three hours had gone by. "I have to go to work."

"Is it really four already," Jon asks in disbelief.

"Yeah, but I don't want to go."

"You could call out. You said you still have a lot of homework to do for your classes."

I sigh as I look back to the open taps on my laptop. He was right. Since Brock had pushed for me to get through my classes faster the other students, I've actually been getting a lot more work than I thought a freshman would ever get. However, I am now a semester ahead of normal high school freshmen, and I will be working on this stuff later. Plus, Panda still doesn't know about me going back to school.

So I shake my head. "No, I need to get the money. If I'm going to be going to college, I'm going to need all the cash I can get."

"Alright babe. Just don't over work yourself. I don't want to hear about you fainting at work."

I smile at him and say, "I'll be fine, babe. Hey, when were you and Luke going back to North Carolina?"

"We'll be leaving on Wednesday."

"You two behind," I smirk.

"Shuch up, babe. We just got a lot less done with these stupid projects than we thought we would have done."

"Shuch up," I laugh.

"Don't make fun of the way I talk!"

I laugh again, shaking my head. "I'll call you tomorrow."

"Alright. Good night, babe. Love you."

"I love you too."

We end our call and I save the work I had done before I jump out of the chair I had been sitting on and I quickly get ready for work. Once I'm ready, I walk out and lock the door behind me, but stop when I hear yelling upstairs.

"Stop fucking lying to me! Why do you want to be a fucking whore so badly?!"

"I'm not a whore! I'm a fucking bartender!"

"Then why can't I come see you at work!"

"It's against the rules for us to date customers. I don't want either of us to get in trouble."

"Is that the real reason?! Or is it so I don't walk in and see you grinding on some guy?!"

"I don't do that! How many times do I have to say that?!"

"If you're just a bartender, then there shouldn't be a reason I can't go!"

"I'm not the one who made the rule! Look, I need to go to work, just please leave!"

"Oh what?! Now I can't wait here for you to come back!"

"I don't get off until three! Just go back to your apartment! I'll call you tomorrow!"

"How will I know that you're going to come here and not some John's place?!"

"I swear to fucking God! You're being ridiculous!"

"I'm not being ridiculous! You're just being an unfaithful, disgusting little whore!"

"I swear to god, call me a whore one more tim-"

My heart stops and I feel my blood turn cold when I then hear a loud smack that practically echoes throughout the courtyard. Everything then turns silent, and fear slowly grows in my heart as I wait to hear something, anything. My guess is that a few seconds go by before I hear one of the guys saying, "I'm so sorry."

I then jump when I hear running coming from around one of the corners and I hear another person yell, "Get the fuck away from him!"

My heart races as I hear screaming and yelling, threatens and pleads. As the yelling starts to move away, my eyes follow the footsteps until they get to the stairs. Then, I finally see some of the sources of the screams. Some blond with long, crazy hair is getting pushed away, and Marcel is the one doing the pushing. Once I see them go to the parking lot, I quickly run to the stairs and jump up to the second floor, where I see Smitty leaning against his door with his hand on the side of his face.

I run over and gently put my hand on his shoulder. He jumps, but when he sees me, he starts crying. "Smitty, what happened? Who was that?"

He starts talking, however, because he is crying so hard, I can't understand a word he's saying. I wrap my arms around him and hug him tightly, rubbing his back lightly as I shush him and try to calm him down.

After a bit, I hear someone running over, and when I look behind me, I see that it's Marcel. When he gets to us, he kneels down and has Smitty look at him, and by this time, he's more calm than when I had first gotten to him.

"What happened," Marcel asks him.

Through his tears, Smitty tells us, "That was my boyfriend, John. Ever since I told him about the rules of the club, he's been a bit jealous. He doesn't understand why he can't go over to see me, and he had this idea that I wasn't just a bartender."

"So that's why I heard him calling you a whore," I accidentally say out loud.

"That's not the only reason," Smitty continues, turning to me. "A few weeks ago, someone went to a guy's place, and I had him send me the address to the place for safety. John saw that text and he thought I was getting the address to some guy's house for me."

I feel my heart stop. I know what he's talking about. _That's the address I sent him when I went to see my Jon._

"I told him that it was for a friend seeing a new boyfriend, but he didn't believe me. Since then, he's been calling me all these horrible things and arguing with me about this. He's never touched me like this before though."

"One time is more than enough though," Marcel says in a strict tone. "You need to break up with him."

"What?"

""Lucas, he hit you! No matter what happens, even if you two are in the middle of a fight, even if he was on drugs or drunk, even if he was under so much stress and you just pissed him off for whatever reason he pulled out his ass, no one, man or woman, should ever put his hands on you!"

He looks down and shakes his head. "But this was the first time and we were so happy before... I was hoping-"

"You love the man you met," Marcel interrupts. "You loved the man you talked for hours and planned a future with. But do you think that man would have put his hands on you like that?!" Smitty slowly shakes his head. "If you love someone, Lucas, you don't hit them or cut them down. I heard the way he talked to you, and even if you were a stripper, which you aren't, you don't deserve to be call any of that."

The tears start to dry on his face. "He came all this way to be with me though."

"That doesn't mean you owe him anything. He came here to be with you, yes; but you didn't start your relationship to be smacked around and called a whore."

He nods and says, "Okay. I'll break up with him after work."

"Do you still want to go," I ask.

He looks back to us and nods. "Yeah. I need something to get my mind off of this."

Marcel nods and says, "I'll drive you. I don't want to risk that bastard trying to stalk you or anything."

"He wouldn't do that."

"Lucas, we thought Ryan wouldn't do that either. Or Jake, or Nic, or Max, or-"

"Okay, I get it! Okay... I'll go with you."

The three of us stand up and walk back downstairs together. I keep with Smitty while Marcel leads us to the cars, scanning the parking lot to make sure John isn't here. Once both Smitty and I are in the cars, I wait for Smitty and Marcel to start driving before I follow after them.

The drive felt much heavier than normal, but it's really to be expected after what had just happened. What I just saw. What Marcel said.

_"Even if he was on drugs or drunk."_

_My dad... when he was high, he never hit my mom... did he? I don't remember. How bad did she have it when it was only him on heroin? Did she get beaten? I remember her crying, but I don't remember seeing bruises or red marks. What happened before my mom got addicted? What happened after? Is she okay now?_

My mind keeps racing up until we pull into the parking lot of the club. Once we get to the parking lot, Marcel leads Smitty and I inside, making sure we went in before him and shutting the door behind him. I look over Smitty to see how red his face is, and sigh when I see that it's still bright red.

I quickly run over to Chilled and ask him to borrow some of his make-up. After a bit of denying he has it, he hands it over and I lead Smitty to the couch. I then start going through it, trying to figure out what to use, but eventually, Chilled walks over, pushes me out of the way, and covers up the red mark on Smitty's face for us.

Afterwards, Marcel, Smitty, and I change into our uniforms and go to the front, getting started with our work. As we set up for the night, I do all I can to cheer up Smitty. After an hour, Panda comes out and asks for everyone to come to the stage so he can tell the schedule for the dancers.

It's finally then when Smitty looks over to me and smiles. "I know you are worried, but don't, Evan. Even though I really love John and it... It really hurts me that he's changed. It hurts me that he isn't the man I met online anymore." He shakes his head and smiles again before he says, "I'll get over it. I know I will, and I know that I can find someone better."

"At least you're able to realize that," we hear someone say as they walk over to the bar. We look and see Brock walk over and lean against the bar and look straight at Smitty. "Marcel told me what happened. Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine."

"It may not be that much better, but you know you'll have a better chance at meeting a decent guy away from here."

"I'm starting to think that."

"Wait," I interrupt. "Moo, have you been trying to get Smitty to quit here too?"

"Yeah," he tells me. "Even if he was nineteen when he started working here, I didn't want him to have to go through any of the bullshit we've gone through. However, he was like you when he started. He didn't see anything wrong with the club."

"That was until I saw the dancers getting stalked, I had a stalker, and the harassment. Mix that with the shit show from the drugs and I started hating it here."

"You hate it here," I ask him.

"Well, I guess hate is a strong word, but there has been so much shit happening here for the longest time, and Panda wanted us to hide it from you, but there's only so much we could hide. Even the little bit of bullshit you had to go through was getting to me. Then, when Bryce died and Ohm left, it started getting to me even more. Now this... I honestly don't know how much more I can take."

Before any of us can think of what else to say, we all snap our heads to the stage as Panda yells for us to go join the others. We do as he says and line up, letting him call out the schedule. After he's done, he looks up to us and says, "Now, I'm sure you all are aware that business has slowed down a bit since we lost Bryce and Ohm, and it has dropped a bit more with Lui taking more days off. So, I am taking a bit of a risk with this move, however, I believe this could be a good move for us."

"What do you mean," Brock asks, raising an eyebrow.

"What I mean is, as of today, we have two new members for our little family. Everyone, I want you all to meet Scott and Steven."

We look to the stage and see two men walk out from backstage. The second I see them, I recognize them right away. They were the the same guys that Panda had shown me in his office. I smile when I see Steven nervously look around at the other dancers. His innocent look seems to match his personality.

After explaining who the two are and what they would be doing, the dancers and servers split up and go their separate ways so they can get ready for the doors to open. I look up towards the stage and watch as Scott and Steven jump off the stage and look around, obviously confused by what they should be doing.

I smile and decide to at least try to make them feel a little less nervous by at least giving them a friend. So, I walk over to them and say, "What's up, guys. Welcome to the club." They both look to me and smile. "I'm Vanoss; one of the servers, or drink boy as some of the guys here call us."

"Wait," Scott says, raising an eyebrow. "Vanos? Like the car part?"

I laugh and says, "Yeah, that's where I picked up the name. That's just my nickname. Something you guys will need to come up with before the customers come in. My real name is Evan Fong."

"Wait, what was that," Steven asks, leaning closer to me.

I blink and take a step back before I say in hint of confusion in my voice, "Evan Fong?"

He shakes his head and looks away before saying in a low voice, "Evan Fong? I feel like I've heard that name before."

I raise an eyebrow and am about to ask something, but I stop when Smitty walks over and wraps his arm around me. "Well, the club is about to open, so let's get ready for the night. Scott, I want you to follow me so I can introduce you to the drink menu. Steven, you'll have to find Mini, and he will show you around backstage."

"Why don't I just do that," I suggest, admittedly wanting to talk to the guy I had hired. "I mean, Scott does have experience as a server, so I think he can cover me as I show Steven around and introduced him to the other dancers for an hour or two. Besides, Mini goes up right after Moo opens."

Smitty looks over to Scott, who shrugs and smiles before Smitty sighs and turns to me. "Alright, just make it fast. I don't want you dumping all of your work on the new guy."

"I won't." I then start walks, grabbing Steven's arm and pulling him after me. He quickly picks up speed and keeps up with me as I lead him to the hallway in between the stage and the stairwell. I then just lean against the wall and smile at him. "We have about two minutes before the club actually opens, so we have some time to relax before I can take you back there."

"What?"

"Well, the dancers all do things to give themselves energy to work, and I'm not sure how you feel about this type of stuff, but me personally, I don't like to see it."

"Wait, are you saying that all of the dancers here do drugs?"

"Not exactly. Some don't. Some drink, others drink energy drinks like its water. It's all to give them energy I guess."

"Do you do anything."

I shake my head. "Before, just being here was all I needed. Now," I start, feeling my face start to heat up. "It's my boyfriend. Just talking to him before I come in, seeing him on my days off and seeing him whenever I have a bad day, it's all I feel like I need to get me going." I look to him and ask, "What gets you through the day?"

He bites his lip and looks to the floor. "I don't know. I never really had to do something to get me through a bad day."

"What made you decide to come here?"

He keeps his eyes on the floor before he sighs and says, "When I first went to school, I dropped out because of a bad break up, which triggered my depression. I want to go back, but I don't have as much money as I use to. I need to work to get more, and well, I heard this was one of the best gay strip clubs in town, and that its always busy."

"You heard right, and don't worry. We have two other guys who work here for the same reason."

He looks up and smiles at me. "How long have you worked here?"

"Two years in June."

"What made you come here?"

"It's kind of a long story."

He looks over to the door that leads to the stairwell before he looks over to me. "How well do you know the boss?"

"Panda? I guess pretty well. He has been showing me how to run things behind the scenes."

"He has?"

"Yeah. Actually, he asked me to take a look at your resume before he hired you."

His eyes widen when he hears me say that. "Seriously?"

"Yup. Anyways, what are you going to go by?"

"Go by?"

"Yeah. I mean, you are a dancer. So, what's your stage name going to be?"

He thinks for a minute before he says, "I think I'll go by 'ZeRoyalViking'. Viking is my last name, according to my family, I have royal blood somewhere in me, and ze-"

"I get the ze," I laugh. "Hmm, Ze. That sounds like a good nickname. And I'm sure Jay could come up with a amazing way to introduce you before you start dancing."

"Welcome to the Big Bad Panda Club, gentlemen," we hear from the other side of the door. "I hope you are all ready for the show. Tonight, we're starting with an oldie but goodie. He's here to show the new boys how to make everyone scream his name all night long. Let's hear it for our first lovely dancer of the night, Moo Snuckel!"

I roll my eyes and shake my head. "That sounded a bit rude," Ze says, raising an eyebrow.

"It's a weird thing. For some reason, the biggest thing about Moo is the fact that he's our oldest dancer. He started here when he was, twenty-five, twenty-six. He's in his thirties now, which is old in stripper years. But, he still looks good, so people still want him."

"This is a lot to take in."

"You'll be getting a shit ton of money if you're good, so don't worry. It will all be worth it." I push myself off of the wall I was leaning on and grab his arm. "Come on; it's time to meet the other dancers."

I pull him into the back room and instantly start introducing him to the other dancers. I stand back and let him start talking to the others. After a minute, he seems to become fast friends with everyone, but he mainly stays by Chilled and GaLm.

I'm then about to go grab him to show him the VIP rooms, but stop when I hear screaming coming from the front. I hesitate a bit before I push my way pass the curtains separating the two areas, and I feel my heart drop the second I see the stage. The second I see Moo on his back, seizing and foaming at the mouth.


	23. Double Date

When I open my eyes, I'm standing on the stage, and looking around, I can't help but feel alone and cold. The bright neon lights are on me, but I can't feel the warmth from the lights. It's completely silent, and the lights in the room, except for the lights to the stage, are off. The only thing I can hear, is my own heart beat. Or at least, that is until I hear three separate screams in the darkness of the room.

The lights turn on and I gasp as I see Lucas, Brock, and Marcel in the middle of the room with darkness surrounding them. Tears are running down all three of their faces as the darkness inches it's way closer to them.

As if it was a snake, I see lines of the shadows lunge towards the three of them. Two lines grab a hold of Brock and Lucas and it starts dragging them into the darkness, however, Marcel grabs both of their hands and tries to hold onto them for dear life.

I watch helplessly from the stage, frozen in fear, as Brock and Lucas are pulled in two different directions. Marcel screams in pain as his arms are stretched out. Brock sees the pain in Marcel's face, and shuts his eyes before he lets go of his hand, allowing the darkness to swallow him. With tears in his eyes, Marcel grabs Lucas with both hands and tries to pull him away, however, the darkness continues to pull him in, even dragging Marcel with him.

Suddenly the lights shut off again, and I hear three screams again. Two of pain, and one of heartbreak. All of them bring tears to my eyes from what is behind them, and my heart instantly starts to ache.

Slowly, the lights come back on, and the darkness is gone. In the middle of the room is one man, shaking as tears streaming down his face. He failed to save the other two, and now, he is left to feel broken.

I want to run over and hug him, but I'm still unable to move. So, I open my mouth, and just scream his name.

***

"Is Brock going to be okay," Jonathan asks, sliding his hand across the table and taking my hand.

It's almost four in the morning, but I was not in the mood to go home. Panda didn't close down the club again because he said we had to do that too many times already, so we had to clean up Brock's vomit and saliva off of the stage and keep working. Marcel took Smitty home after we were done with work and told me that he was going to stay at the hospital as well to keep an eye on Brock. I haven't heard from him since, but it's only been thirty minutes, so I can't think too much of it.

"I don't know. I know that Brock and I didn't get along for a while, but I don't want to see him die from this too."

I look up and see Jon biting his lip and looking away. "What's wrong," I ask, wanting to know what he was thinking at this point.

"Nothing."

"Don't even try it. What are you thinking?"

He sighs and says, "I know that you had this goal in mind about running the club, but I'm starting to worry about this whole thing. This is the second overdose that's happened since we started dating, and you've told me that some of the dancers have gotten stalked, not to mention your friend that fell off the stage. Babe, I am seriously worried about you. I don't want to see you get hurt, and that's all I can think about now. I don't want anyone trying to stalk you, and I don't want you-"

"I would never do drugs, Jon," I quickly say.

"I'm not saying you would. But I don't want someone trying to drug you, or for you to take the fall if someone has something or for someone to attack you or set you up or, fuck. There are so many things that could happen, and I don't want anything to happen to you." He then reaches over the table and takes my hands. "I'm just worried about you. I love you so much, Ev. I don't want anything to happen to you."

I feel my heart beat hard in my chest and my face start to heat up. I never thought me doing my job worried him, but hearing him say all of these things, it's romantic and it hurts. He's so worried for me, and I didn't think about it while I told him all of these things that happened to my friends. It feels so selfish now.

Looking down at our hands, I silently think about what I should do. I can't help but give a tiny smile as I think about Ohm and Brock. I never realized how much I would miss them until now when I wish they could tell me what to do. Then my smile fades away as I think about how my parents should be able to help me. How much I miss them. How little I probably matter to them.

_Focus! I know how to answer this! It's only fair and it makes the most sense. The club meant the world to me for years. It saved me and made me feel like I had a home and a family. The people there were the best thing to have ever come into my life, and most of it turned out to be a lie. The smiles, the pure memories. And now one person is dead, I've seen someone almost die, another person could be on their deathbed! Not to mention Ohm quit and Smitty is half way out the door!_

"I'll quit," I say, my voice shaking as I hold back tears.

"Evan, I'm just saying I'm worried about you. I don't want you to quit if you don't want to."

"No," I say, looking up and locking eyes with him. "You're right. The job is dangerous, and the more I see, the more I realize it. I mean, the guys lied about so many things already. I don't know what else they have been lying about. I'm worried about everyone there, and the new guys that were just hired today. But, I can't let my worry for them keep me there forever. I need to get out of there eventually."

"So when do you think you'll leave?"

I look down and think for a bit. After a while, I look back up to him and say, "I might be there for a while. I think, the best thing I can do for now is work as often as I can and get as much money saved up as I can get."

"Why?"

"Well, college will be expensive, I'm going to get kicked out of my apartment when I quit, I have to worry about my car and phone bill along with insurance." I sigh and look back down to my hands. "And none of that would be a worry if I wasn't a dumbass before."

"Hey, don't beat yourself up."

"But it's true. I've been working with this club for two years and I spent every cent I made on food, video games, I have two cellphones, a laptop, a shit ton of clothes, and the list keeps going. I didn't need all of those things, but I wanted them. Now, I'm starting to think it was a bad idea."

"Babe, everyone buys for themselves when they have the money. And you didn't even have to pay rent. I'm sure if I was in your place, I would have done the same." He then reaches over and makes me look up at him again. "Besides, I'm going for offer one thing that I know will help. How would you like to move in with me?"

"What?"

"I don't mean right now, but, when you're ready to quit. I want you to move in with me."

"Do you really want me to do something like that," I ask, nervously.

"Of course, Ev," he says, looking deep into my eyes and holding my hand with both of his. "I-"

"Are you two going to order anything or what," we hear Mark ask us, annoyed.

I pull my hands back and cover my face in embarrassment. "Just get us what we normally get and get lost," Jon then says, trying not to laugh. After a moment, Jon pulls my hands away and looks back into my eyes. He then drops his head, gently banging it against the table before saying, "I can't remember what I was going to say."

I laugh before I lean over and kiss the top of his head. He looks back up at me and smiles before he puts his hand on the back of my head and pulls me in for a kiss. As we kiss, I hear the bell above the diner door ring as someone walks in. When we pull away, I hear two men start to talk over by the counter.

"It's about time you showed up. I was starting to worry."

"I just needed to sneak away from the others."

The second I hear the second voice, I spin around to make sure I'm not hearing things, which I wasn't. "Steven?"

The second I say his name, Ze turns around and I see his jaw drop. "Evan? What are you doing here?"

I bite my lip, knowing I can't lie. If I don't introduce Jon as my boyfriend, he'll be mad or suspicious. If I tell Ze who Jon is, I'll have to continue to lie to him about my age, and no one can mention it around him.

_I'd be telling them to lie to him like how they've lied to me... but do I have much of a choice._

"I'm having a late dinner with my boyfriend. What are you doing here?"

He looks over to the man next to him before he looks back to me and says, "I'm doing the same." The guy turns around in his seat and looks at Jon and I, and I have to hold back my gasp when I see that he's a police officer.

"You're dating a cop?"

"Please don't tell the others," he then says, rushing over to the open next to the booth. "You and I both know there's a lot of stupid things that the guys do there, but I don't want them to leave me out of things because of my boyfriend."

I blink, knowing that he has a good reason to want to hide this. This cop isn't one of our regulars, which means I would have to hide my age to him especially, and everyone at the club would have to worry about getting in trouble for the drugs they take if he was ever around. It would be easier to just ignore Ze until he broke up with the guy, but that might not be something he would want to do.

"I promise, I won't say a thing, as long as you keep my relationship a secret too."

"Why?"

"Well," I say, looking over to Jon with a little smirk. "This is a friend of one of the security guards from the club, and he doesn't really want me dating him."

"Oh, alright. It's a deal then."

I look back to Ze and then say, "Hey, why don't you guys join us?"

He blinks before looking at his boyfriend, who just shrugs in response. He then smiles at me and says, "Sure; that would be cool."

I look over to Jon, who smiles back at me and nods, tells me it was okay. He and I then move closer towards the window, making room for both of the men to join us. Ze sits next to me and says, "I guess I should introduce you guys. Evan, this is my boyfriend, Michael. Mike, this is one of my new co-workers, Evan."

His boyfriend looks over to me with a friendly smile and puts his hand out towards me. "Nice to meet you."

I smile back and shake his hand before I say, "Well, this is my man, Jonathan, or Jon for short. Jon, this is Steven, the new dancer I was just telling you about."

They then shake hands before he turns back to his boyfriend. "Seeing you actually reminded me, I needed to ask you something, babe. Does the name, Evan Fong ring a bell to you?"

I blink and look over to Mike, who's jaw drops when he hears my name. "Yeah, of course that rings a bell," he tells him. "That's the name of a missing person that we've been looking for for almost three years."

After he says that, it's my turn for my jaw to drop. "A missing persons with my name?"

"You're name is Evan Fong?"

"Yeah."

He blinks before he raises an eyebrow and asks me, "How old are you?"

I feel my heart stop for a second, but quickly pull out the same lie I told Jon. "Twenty-one."

He sighs before he looks down to his hands. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Steven just said you were his co-worker."

"Now I remember," Steven then says, gently grabbing Mike's arm. "Evan was the name of the missing kid from the next town over. He was the case you had been looking at ever since you started working for the precinct."

"It still makes no sense to me how the guys in his town fucked up so badly. I mean, his mother came in the next morning with a note saying he had ran away, and they sent her home without looking at the note. Telling her, he was probably at a friend's house and he would be back soon."

"Wait, the police in this kid's home town said that," Jon asks, confused.

"Yeah. I mean, from what I had learned in the academy, a large amount of cases of run aways go to one of their friends and stay there for a breather from their home life. But, they didn't even look into his friends. Normally, we call their friends, ask them if he's there, and tell them that his parents are looking for him and are worried, and put on the pressure for them to tell us anything they know. But these guys didn't start doing that until a month later, and that's only because his school got involved and stood behind his mom when she came back, putting pressure on them. However, since a month had gone by, most of the leads they could have had were gone. So now, it's a case of a kid walking out of his house in the middle of the night and disappearing. This case is in every city in the state, because they're hoping he's still at least in the state still."

"How old was this kid," I ask, already know the answer.

"He was fifteen when he ran away, so he should be seventeen, eighteen now."

"That's crazy," Jon then says, covering his mouth.

I bite the inside of my mouth and try not to drift off into thought.... _My mom put in a missing persons report? Why haven't Panda or any of the regulars told me about it?_

"So Evan," I hear Mike say, snapping me out of my mind. "How long have you worked at the Big Bad Panda club?"

"Almost two years."

"Really? So you know a lot about what happens there? Woul-"

"Mike, stop," Steven quickly says. "I asked a bunch of questions, like you asked, so please don't interrogate my co-worker."

"I just want to make sure you're okay there. I've seen that there have been a lot of cases of stalking towards the dancers and the fact that there have been-"

"Mike, I get it," Steven says, rolling his eyes. "I swear, you worry too much."

"Well, pardon me for wanting to make sure my boyfriend doesn't get hurt."

"How long have you guys been dating," Jon butts in. "Like, two years?"

Both Steven and Mike stare at him in shock before Steven says, "Yeah actually. It'll be three years January first. How did you know?"

"Ya'll bicker like an old married couple."

I instantly start laughing when he said that, and through my laughter, I say, "I was thinking the same thing."

Mike and Steven roll their eyes before Mike says, "And judging by the baby talk I heard before talking to you two, I guess you guy have been together for less than five months." I stop laughing and look at him in shock. "The honeymoon stage is so sickening to hear sometimes."

"But it was fun while it lasted," Steven then says, looking off. "But then again, I'm happy that we got through it. It may have been fun while everything was new, it's easy to talk to each other now. Plus, when we fight, it feels great knowing that at the end of the night, we'll work it out before bed, or at least we'll work it out by morning."

I look at Mike and Steven as they look at each other and see a strong bond between them. The gentle gaze they're giving each other, it has the I love you's built into them, and I can feel how much they care about each other just from it. I look down between them and I see Steven gently caressing the side of Mike's hand with his thumb.

I look over to Jon and see him staring back at me, with a little smile on his face. I smile back and slide my hand across the table towards him, which he happily takes. He and I may not have been together for that long, but I know, after everything that's happened, that our relationship is strong too. And that we'll be there for each other just like Steven and Mike.


	24. Leave

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ***Trigger Warning**

A week goes by and it feels like business as usual. As much as I hate having to word it like that, it's true. Everyday has felt like any other. When we lost Bryce and Ohm, the club had a heavy feeling, but right now, when Brock is still in the hospital, stuck in the coma he's been in for a fucking week, it feels like nothing happened. Everyone is moving. Everyone is dancing. It's like no one cares... _But we do_

When I walk up to the bar, I put my tray down and turn to Smitty. "I need a Blood Mary, Chocolate Martini, three Scooby Snacks, and a Zombie."

He looks over, slowly leans against the bar closer to me, and has a confused look on his face. "A Bloody Mary, Chocolate Martini, three Scooby Snacks, and a Zombie?" I nod. "Are those all for the same table?" I nod again. His eyes slowly start traveling around the room, looking for who could have possibly made the order.

"It's for the group of college students in the very back, one girl, three guys. Two have been here before and are looking forward to seeing Chestyglittersizzle."

At the mention of Mini's original attempted stage name, Smitty laughs and shakes his head. "Okay, now that makes sense."

He pulls out a couple glasses and quickly starts spinning bottles in his hands as he starts making the Scooby Snacks. I watch as he does this, being interested by how each bottle moves in his hands, spinning around his fingers like how the dancers spin around the poles. After so long of doing this, he's gotten amazing at making all of these drinks, and making them all so perfectly.

"I've got some good news, guys," we hear someone say as they walk up to the bar. I look over and smile as Marcel leans against the bar with a smile on his face. "Brock just woke up."

"He did," I almost scream. "How is he? Is he okay? Is he going to come back?"

In one impressive motion, Smitty pours the perfect amount of melon liquor in all three glasses before putting the bottle down and slapping his hand over my mouth to shut me up. "What do you know?"

"Nothing much yet. They said they got the results back on the test though, and it turns out it wasn't an overdose. Someone laced his coke with something, but the test weren't about to pick up on what. He's luck to be alive. I'm going to see him after work. Do you two want to go with?"

I pull Smitty's hand off of my mouth and say, "Yeah; of course."

Smitty smiles and nods his head before he gets back to making the drink. Marcel and I start talking, planning what food we could sneak into the hospital for Moo. After a minute, We hear glass hit the floor, and when I look over, I see Smitty staring at the front door, and his face is completely white. When I follow his gaze, I see that he isn't just staring at the door. He's staring at a man with crazy blond hair.

"What the hell is he doing here," I ask, standing up and clinching my fist.

Marcel looks over to where Smitty and I are looking, before he snaps his head back to Smitty. "I thought you broke up with him," he hisses.

"I did," Smitty says, with a shaky voice. "I don't know what he's doing here."

After a bit, I see John look over towards us. He locks his gaze on Smitty and Marcel and I then watch as he starts walking over. Marcel pulls out his phone and starts writing out a message. I look over his shoulder and see that he's writing out a text to Tyler and David, telling them to keep an eye on the blond walking towards the bar.

Once John walks over to the bar, he asks Smitty, "Can I talk to you?"

"Yeah," Smitty says, before he continues making the first Scooby Snack.

"Alone," he then says before looking over to Marcel and I.

"No," Smitty says before he starts shaking the drink. "I'm working, and they are waiting for me to finish so they can do their jobs. So if you really want to talk to me, you have to talk to me right here."

I see John grit his teeth and clinch his fist, but he then takes a deep breath and says, "Fine. I just wanted to tell you again that I'm sorry for what happened last week. I was annoyed and upset with the idea that you could have been selling your body to some other guy."

"This is a strip club, John. I'm not going to tell you again."

"I know! But, the fact that you got that address just screamed sex! You have to know that!"

"I'm not going to tell you again, John. That was a text from a friend for protective reasons. Now calm down before you make a scene."

"Just shut up for a second and let me talk!"

"I am letting you talk," Smitty says before pouring the drink into a smaller glass and adding whipped cream on top. "But I don't see why you had to come here to tell me you're sorry."

"Because you won't text me back or answer my phone calls! How else was I supposed to talk to you?!"

"Maybe you should have taken the hint," Smitty says, taking the next drink and adding what was needed to it. "I don't want to talk to you."

"Please, I'm sorry," he yells before slamming his fist into the bar. "How many times do I have to say it?! I'm sorry for what I did and said! Just please, take me back! I love you! I moved all the way out here for you! I need you!"

"If you really loved me," Smitty says before taking the drink and mixing it. "Then slapping me wouldn't have been a thought that came to your mind."

"It wasn't a thought! It was an accident, I swear!"

"You don't just accidentally slap someone across the face, John! Now get out of here! I don't want anything to do with you!"

"But-" before he can say anything else, Marcel steps in between them and starts pushing John away from the bar.

"He said he wants you to leave. Now get out of here before you make an even bigger scene than you've already made."

"No! Get the fuck out of my way! Lucas, please! Talk to me! Lucas!"

After he started yelling again, Tyler and David quickly run over and grab him, trying to pull him out of the club. I turn to Smitty, who I can see start to shake as John continues to yell.

"Are you okay," I ask, reaching over and putting my hand on his should.

He quickly pulls his arm away from me. "I'll be fine," he sighs. "I just need to get out of here. Work at a different club or something. Anything to get away from this place."

"Would it really make that much of a difference?"

"More than you realize, Evan. Working at this strip club as made dating more difficult than it should be. You're lucky you found someone that isn't jealous of the fact that the customers here are ripping off your clothes with their eyes. Though that could all change if you don't get out of here soon. Especially with what Panda has planned for you."

"What do you mean?"

"Have you seriously still not seen it, Ev?"

"Seen what?"

He opens his mouth to say something, but quickly shuts it when we hear a loud bang ring throughout the room, causing Jay to shut off the music. Smitty and I look towards the front door, where the bang had came from, and I feel my heart stop when we see John still standing there, and he's holding a gun in the air. The club instantly fills with screams as everyone either hide in the bathrooms or under the tables, but a few try to run pass him to get out. My blood turns cold however when I see John turn the gun on them, shooting people as they try to either rush him or try to pass him. We then watch in horror as Marcel grabs the gun and tries to pull it out of John's hands, while Tyler and David try to get everyone out from under the tables so they could lead them somewhere safer.

After a few seconds, Smitty jumps over the bar and grabs my arm, pulling me towards the door that leads backstage. He and I continue running, and once we get backstage, which is empty from the dancers all running out after the first gunshot, and run to the back door that leads to the parking lot, we hear another gunshot and Marcel screaming.

Smitty and I push open the door and run out to our cars. I look around and see that more than half of the cars that were normally here were now gone. My guess is that the dancers all jumped in their cars and drove off after the chaos started. Smitty and I had the same plan, however, panic quickly hits us as we realize that we were still in our uniforms. Our keys were still in our day clothes, which were in our lockers.

I turn towards the building without thinking, ready to run back in to get my keys, however, I stop when Smitty grabs me again and pull me back over to him. "Don't be fucking stupid, Evan! We don't know where John is in there!"

"Then what are we supposed to do?!"

He looks around before he grabs my arm again and starts running to... The truck. The black, four door truck.

My heart pounds heavily in my chest as Smitty jumps into the bed of the truck. "Get in, now," he yells.

I stare at the truck, worried about what had happened before, but I do as he told me. I climb up the side of the truck and jump into the bed. He and I then lay on our stomachs and try to control our breathing, in the hopes of staying quiet.

After a bit, the only sounds we can hear is our shaky breaths as fear continues to travel through us. A million thoughts are going through my mind, however, the safety of everyone still in the club sticks to the top of my mind. There were so many people in there even though we had just opened. The servers. The college students. _Tyler. David. Marcel. Are they all okay?_

I quickly cover my mouth when I hear someone walking around from a few rows over. They're calm. Paced. They're walking with a purpose. And they are looking for us. I know they are.

I can see Smitty shaking next to me as they start coming closer to us. Tears start filling his eyes as they get louder. Whoever they belong to, they aren't saying a word.

Then, we hear silence again. They stopped...

Smitty reaches over and takes my hand...

We look at each other, and he mouths the words, I love you...

We hear a click...

I shut my eyes...

Then the world stops when two loud bangs sound off and I feel something wet and warm hit my face.

I don't want to open my eyes. Tears roll down my face as I hear several more clicks go off through the ringing in my ears. The next thing I hear is Tyler and David yelling, a mix of angry screams, and a single "oh my god".

I cover my face with my arm as I squeeze Smitty's hand, hoping to feel him squeeze back... 

But he never does.


	25. Hospital Visit

I feel as if I was in a daze... No... I was on a different planet. My mind was floating through space, while my body was getting crushed by the weight of the earth.

My stomach is tied up to the point where I couldn't even throw up if I wanted to, and my heart feels like stone. It isn't ripped from my chest, it isn't torn to pieces. It's stoned. Numbed. I can't feel anything anymore.

I can't cry anymore. The tears burn so much that it feels as if someone cut opened my eyes and decided to rub salt and lemon juice into them.

I haven't been okay since yesterday. When Smitty were murdered and Marcel is on the verge of death.

I snap back to reality as I feel the weight of someone's hand on my shoulder. I look over and see Panda with a forced smile. "Come on," he tells me before unbuckling my seat belt. "We're here."

I look out the window and see that we were in front of the hospital. I look down and open the passenger side door before jumping out and following Panda as he leads the way through the cold hallways. Everywhere around me, I see doctors and nurses, running around, doing everything they can to either keep people from dying, or making them as comfortable as they can while they die.

I barely noticed when Panda stopped to talk to a nurse, and almost ran into him. I shake my head at myself as I think about how stupid I am for still being so out of it. It's a good thing Panda offered to drive me here today, otherwise I may have crushed and killed myself trying to get here.

I sigh and look up to the back of Panda's head. For weeks, we've been losing so many people in so many different ways. This can't be easy, nor would it be easy for a long while. He had just hired two new people to replace Bryce and Ohm. Lui only recently came back from resting after he collapsed. Brock literally just woke up yesterday. There is so much happening so fast and so soon. So close together... _How is the club doing?_

When Panda starts walking again, I follow behind him in silence. As he leads the way, he looks over his shoulder and raises his eyebrow at me. "Are you going to say anything?"

I look up to him and shrug my shoulders, not really knowing what to say or do. This makes him stop and turn around to me. "Vanoss, look, I'm worried about you. You've been through so much, and seen so much recently."

I look away from him and sigh. "I'll be fine, Panda. I just... There are so many secrets at the club, it just doesn't feel the same as it use to. And now Marcel and Smitty-"

"You can't blame the club for the actions of a fucked up person, Vanoss."

"I know that. It's just-"

"Evan," he starts, causing me to look back to him out of habit. "I know that there is a lot happening right now. And yes, there have been some things that we've hidden from you, but it was only because we wanted to protect you from all of it."

"Protect me from what?"

"Oh come on, Vanoss. You told us why you ran away from home. You didn't have anywhere else to go, so what do you think we were determined to hide from you to get you to stick around?"

"Well, what about the stalking? Ohm and Smitty told me about what happened to some of the guys that left the club before."

"Stalking by itself is really dangerous and scary. I didn't want you to hear about it and run away."

"I would have rather hear about it over being lied to."

He sighs before he says, "Alright. That's fair enough."

"So... Are there anymore lies?"

"Of course not, Vanoss," he then says, wrapping his arm around me before he starts walking again, somewhat dragging me with him. "I only lied to you to protect you, as I said. I didn't want what the guys did hurt you or for you to have any flashbacks from when you were living with your parents."

I look down to the ground and sigh. "I guess that's understandable."

He then stops again and turns me towards him before he looks into my eyes. "You're extremely important to us, Vanoss. A lot of the guys see you as a son. But me," he then says, moving his hand to the side of my face. "I see you as so much more. You have so much potential in you, I can see you taking over the club when I'm done. I see you as our best dancer from what Ohm told me. I see you..." He looks me up and down before biting his lip. "I see you as the future."

I blush and pull myself out of his arms. "Uh, thanks Panda." I quickly turn away and start walking. "So, uh, where was Brock's room?"

"It's right here," Panda tells me. I turn around and see him pointing at the room next to him.

I chuckle a bit and quickly walk over, putting my hand on the door to open it. However, I stop when Panda grabs my arm and puts his hand on the wall next to the door. "Actually, I want to talk to Brock alone before you see him."

My heart sinks and I spin around to face him. "You're not going to fire him, are you?!"

"No, no, Vanoss. I can't fire him. Yes, he had an overdose in front of our customers. Yes, he did drugs in the club. However, whoever he bought from laced his coke, and everyone does shit at the club. If I was to fire him for doing something so stupid, I would have to fire everyone. Not only that, but now I have to try to find two more people to replace Lucas and Marcel. I can't afford to fire him now. I just need to talk to him, so please, wait out here. When I'm done, I'll give you the same privacy. Okay?"

I look down and take a deep breath. "Okay," I tell him before I step out of the way. I then watch as he walks into the room.

After the door closes behind him, I sigh and look around. Not knowing what else to do, I decide to walk to the gift shop to see if there's something I could get for Brock. Following the maps on the wall, I find the gift shop on the first floor. I must have really been out of it. I don't even remember going to the third floor.

Once at the gift shop, I look around at all of the overpriced gifts until I decide to get him a small balloon bouquet and a teddy bear. As I walk out of the shop, I look over to the a nurse at the front desk, talking to someone dressed in a police's uniform. I squinted my eyes as I stare at the officer, until I realize who it is. "Michael?"

He turns his head towards me and I see his jaw drop open. "Evan? What are you doing here?" He says something to the nurse in a quieter voice before he starts walking over to me.

"I was here to see a friend. He just woke up from a coma yesterday, but I wasn't able to see him."

"Was that because of the shooting that happened at your club?"

I look down. "Of course you know about that. Yeah, I was caught up in that."

"I'm very sorry. I know this time can't be easy for you. Not only that, but it's Thanksgiving."

"Oh yeah, that was today," I chuckle. "With everything that's happened, I guess a lot of us forgot about it."

"I've heard around the station that there have been a lot of cases around the club these past few months. I guess trauma has pushed you a bit."

"Cases?"

"Unfortunately I can't speak on all of that. However, if you want, I can walk with you to your friend's room. I need to speak with him."

"About what?"

"I can't say."

I shake my head. "Look, Brock just woke up yesterday. He could have died. I want to know what you're going to talk to him about."

He rolls his eyes and says, "Fine. I need to speak to him about his dealer."

"Dealer?"

"He's here because he snorted cocaine laced with something and almost died, Evan. We think we know who his dealer is, however, we need his help to make a case against him."

"What if he doesn't talk?"

Mike sighs and then says, "Then we have to hope we find someone who will."

He then turns around and starts walking towards the direction of Brock's room, and I quickly follow. "So, what do you have on this dealer?"

"Technically I'm not suppose to tell you. He's someone close to the club, and the last thing we want to do is spook him."

"Why don't you ask Steven to help?"

"I don't even like him working for the club. Hell, if my boss found out that he and I were dating, he'd take me off the case. This job is dangerous for the both of us, and the last thing either of us want is for the other to get hurt because of it."

I stay silent for a bit as I scan Mike's face. The way he's staring as the thought of Steven comes to him, it hardens. He cares a lot for him, and I can see that he is worried. That look on his face, it's the same one Brock has given me when I missed up in the past. It's the same one Marcel has when he pulls a drunk or some gropy asshole off of a server or a dancer. That's the same look I've seen so many people give when they're ready to risk their lives for someone they care about.

"I'll make sure Steven is safe at the club."

"What?"

"I'll keep an eye on him and make sure no one does anything to him."

He looks over to me to make sure that I'm serious about what I'm saying, and when he sees that I am, he sighs. "Thank you."

He and I then continue to talk as we walk back to Brock's room. Once we're outside of the room, I put the ballon bouquet and bear down and look around, seeing that Panda was still in the room. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to see if Panda had come out of the room yet."

"Wait, Anthony is here?"

"Yeah, he wanted to speak to Brock alone before I got to see him."

He then looks towards the door before he turns and starts walking down the hall. "Stay here and don't tell him I'm here."

"What?"

I watch as he walks down the hall and see him stop a nurse at the end of the hall. Before I can say or do anything, I hear the door to Brock's room open, making me jump. I then see Panda walk out with a smile on his face. "Sorry we took so long. You can go talk to him, now."

I nod and grab the gifts I brought before I walk into the room and close the door behind me. I hold the balloons and bear close to me as I step around the small corner and see Brock watching the corner. He smiles when he sees me, but I want to cry. He looks so tired, and he has so many tubes running through him. I shake my head before I run to his side, putting the balloons and bear down on the table next to him, and I hug him, tightly, trying not to touch any of the tubes running through his arms.

"It's good to see you, Evan."

"Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine. The doctors say that it's a miracle I don't have any permanent brain damage."

I let him go and take a step back. He and I both look down to the tubes. He sighs and says, "This is going to take a shit ton out of what I have saved up. Thank god Panda didn't fire me."

"How much do you think this will take out?"

"Well, I've been in here for a week, and I'll be here for a while more. So, take your guess on how many thousands I'll have to drop." He then sighs and says, "I just can't wait to get back to work."

"Do you really think that's a good idea?"

"I'll be more careful and avoid coke, I promise. This was, sort of a wake up call that what I was doing could really kill me. I have a daughter that I love more than anything, and I have shown that I'm willing to do anything for her... I don't want to die before I have the chance to see her again. So, I'm going to try to keep my nose clean, and I'm going to do whatever it takes to see her again."

"That's great, Moo," I tell him with a smile. "And the best part is that you might get to see her sooner than you think."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I've been thinking, maybe you guys were right. The club isn't what it once was. I'm tired of seeing everyone get put through hell or dying. I don't want to know all of the secrets you guys have been hiding from me if there are anymore to be revealed. So, I've been thinking, maybe I should quit and move in with Jon."

His eyes quickly widen and he starts shaking his head. "Evan, you barely know him."

"I didn't say it would happen tomorrow or anything. But, I can see it happening by next year. He makes me so happy, I feel safe and loved by him. I honestly love him and I know that he loves me. This was all his idea."

"Evan, I really think you shouldn't be so quick to quit and move in with this guy. I mean, you have plenty of time to worry about moving on. Right now, you have school, you're trying to get to college. And to top it all off, he doesn't even know your real age. After he finds out, I can see him getting mad at you. I can see him breaking up with you. You'll be broken hearted and alone. So, maybe-"

"Brock, are you okay," I interrupt, feeling my heart start to sting a little from his words.

"I'm fine, Evan. I just... I'm worried about you. I don't want you to ruin your life by running off with some guy. I think, at least for now, until you're done with college, you should stay with the club."

"What?! Brock, you've been trying to get me out of the club since I started working there!"

"I know, but you made it clear that you didn't want to leave. Plus, we made that deal, remember. You wanted to stay at the club until you finished college."

"Yeah, but that was before Lui collapsed on stage and before Smitty was murdered at the club! That was before you almost died from a overdose and before Marcel got shot and is now fighting for his life!"

"Evan, calm down. You're starting to get riled up for no reason. I'm just telling you, I think it would be better for you to stay at the club for a while longer." He then puts his hand over his mouth and yawns, or at least fakes yawns. "I'm really tired, Evan. We'll talk about this later. Please, can you leave. It's Thanksgiving after all. I'm sure everyone is at the club right now, setting up for dinner."

"But-"

"Evan, please. Go. Enjoy your day, and please let me get some more rest."

I bite my cheek before I turn away and walk out the door. I shut it behind me and sigh. _What's wrong with him? Why does he want me to stay at the club after spending so long trying to get me to leave? It couldn't just be because he doesn't trust Jon..._

"What's wrong?"

I look up and see Panda walking towards me from the other end of the hall. "I just," I quickly think of the best lie to tell him before I finish my sentence. "I've never seen him like that... I never wanted to see him like that..."

"I know that it's scary. He's extremely lucky to be alive, and we should just be happy that he is." Panda slowly wraps his arm around my shoulders before he turns us towards the way we came. He then starts to lead me down the hall and he continues talking. "I talked to him about his little addiction, and got him to agree to stop doing it. He explained that it would be a struggle, which we expect; however, we already lost so many people. The last thing we want is to lose more, and lose them to something so stupid as to another drug."

"Panda, there's so much more to it than just a stupid drug. I watched my parents go through it, and I saw it eat away at their souls, their mind. It made them different. Plus, everyone seemed to have a reason to start. My dad lost his job and a lot of his friends. My mom cut ties to her family and almost lost me. Brock-"

"Are you making excuses for them doing drugs, Evan? I thought you out of all people would hate drugs."

"I do, but I don't hate the people who do them. Since I talked to Brock about his past, I thought about my parents more, and I saw a pattern. They-"

"They all had hard or troubling pasts. Evan, the world isn't as black and white as you think. There are people who do drugs to escape the world to forget their problems, and there are people who do them for fun. Just look at Bryce! Yes, he was stalked, but that isn't a good enough reason to start doing drugs."

"But-"

"Evan, look, at the end of the day, drugs are bad and stupid. Simple as that. I'll agree with you on not everyone who does drugs are bad, but that doesn't change the fact that it's stupid to depend on drugs as heavily as Bryce, Brock, or your parents did. Now, come on. We are already late for dinner."

I sigh and agree. I continue walking with him until we get to the parking lot. Then, I start scanning the lot for Panda's car, which I see under a tree. When we get into his car, he sighs. "I wish you and Smitty didn't hide in the bed of my truck, yesterday. It's going to take me forever-"

"Wait, your truck?"

"Yeah... Vanoss, didn't you know that the truck was mine?"

"N-no!"

"I have two cars. This and that truck, which I got a few years back. I thought you knew."

"I don't think I ever paid attention."

He laughs. "Well, I guess it's because I love driving this baby more," he says as he turns on the engine, bringing the car to life with a loud purr. "But I also like driving my truck to places like this. I just doesn't want people trying to break into here."

I nod and look out the window again. _Black, four door truck... Have I been stressing over that truck for nothing? Is it really more common than I thought... I guess, I was stressing over Jon at the start of our relationship for no reason._


	26. First Fights

***Trigger Warning***

I smile as I look out to the club from the bar. The club feels a lot more livelier than it has in the past week. I don't know if it is because of the time passing and people are already moving past the shooting, the drug overdoses are starting to be forgotten, or because Brock is back, but the customers have seemed a bit happier. Or maybe it's the new faces. We had to speed through training Ze and Scotty to get them on the floor, and the guys have definitely taken a liking to them. One thing we feel blessed about was Scotty popping off some amazing bartending skills out of nowhere. It may not feel the same without Smitty, but it's good to see that we have one area recovered. As for Ze, I was definitely right after pushing for Panda to hire him. His more average body type has captured a few guys' attention, and his more shy personality has made him a little more sought after. He may not be ready for the pole, but that's nothing a little more training won't fix. However, for now, he's stuck serving with me. Which he doesn't mind, and Mike seems to like.

As Ze and I talk, I keep my eyes open to watch the floor as the men watch GaLm spin around on the pole. I see Mini, Chilled, and a few other dancers giving lap dances, and a few of the other servers moving from table to table, trying a little too hard to get a bigger tip from their guys.

"Why don't you do what they do," Ze asks me, regarding the other servers.

"Because, you don't need to have your head up their ass to get a tip. If you're their type, that's already a guaranteed tip. If you smile and be nice, higher chance of a good tip. If you leave them be and keep an eye on them, only going up when you see a sign that they are going to need another drink, another good chance. If you go up to them every five minutes asking if they need something, you won't get much from them. These guys just want to watch the dancers, watch you walk by, and get their rocks off to the idea of fucking us. So leave them be."

Ze and I laugh as the last part of my advise, but we stop when we hear someone clear their throat. He and I then turn towards the person that wanted our attention, and we see Panda leaning against the bar. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything important."

"No sir," I say with my usual smile. "Is there something you need from us?"

"Good; so you won't mind me stealing Ze from you."

Ze and I look at each other before he nods and walks over to Panda. I stay by the bar and watch as Panda pats Ze's shoulder a couple times as he leads him to the back. I gulp, feeling my stomach twist a bit. _He didn't find out about Mike, did he?_

"Why do you look so worried," I hear someone ask.

I turn around again and the knot in my stomach gets tighter. "I'm not worried," I lie.

"Don't lie to me," Brock tells me as he leans up against the bar next to me.

"I'm not," I say, looking away from him. "I'm just, nervous."

"About what?"

"Well, Jonathan is coming back today, and I haven't told him about the shooting yet."

"Why don't you just, you know, not tell him about it?"

"What," I almost yell as I look back over to him.

"Well, he's only going to worry about you if you tell him, and it could push him to try to make you quit before you're-"

"Brock, seriously, what is wrong with you?!"

"Noth-"

"No, do not tell me that it's nothing!"

I take another look out to the floor and see a few customers look over from the corners of their eyes. Snapping my head back to Brock, I grab his wrist and pull him with me, dragging him to the hallway in the back, taking us away from prying eyes. After I shut the door, I turn to him and glare into his eyes.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"There's nothing wrong with me, Evan."

"Stop lying! You spent two years trying to get me out of here, but when I come to you, saying I'm planning on leaving sooner than we had agreed to, you want me to stay. I told you everything that Jon has ever said and done, and he even wants me to leave the club too, and now you're telling me to keep quiet about something that will scare the shit out of him. He's friends with Tyler! Do you think Tyler is going to keep quiet about the shooting when he was shaking from it the next day?!" He looks away from me. "Exactly! So why are you telling me to keep this a secret?! Why are you telling me to stay?! What's wrong with you?!"

He stares down at the ground and stays quiet for a minute. This quickly annoys me and I yell, "Answer me!"

This causes him to flinch before he shakes his head. "Nothing, Evan... It's just... What happened to me made me realize something." He then looks back to me. "None of us are ever going to be able to move pass the club. This has stained our lives."

"What?"

"Evan, within the first three hours of waking up in the hospital, I had three men come into my room, recognizing me and calling me by my stage name. Even if we leave, the club is going to follow us and loom over us like a dark cloud. Even if we never talk about it, we can get recognized."

"But, that's something we already knew. We've always had those creeps that stare at us if they recognize us at the store or something."

"Yeah, but at least at the store, we could think of them as some unemployed chumps with nothing better to do than to drool over a couple guys taking their clothes off on a pole. But I got recognized by a doctor and two male nurses. One of them told me he didn't know for sure if it was really me until he saw my eyes. The other even had the nerve to wait for me to get discharged before coming back into my room and asking me to give him a private show before I left."

He shakes his head again before be continues. "I know that the bastard that stalked Bryce was a business man, but he was different from these guys. He was flashing his money, and I figured all rich men would do that. But no." He then leads back and pushes his back against the wall. "Doctors, lawyers... Anyone can come here and see us. Come around enough and they'll learn our faces. And who wants to hire a stripper."

"That's-"

"Not fair? Discrimination? Take you're pick, we can come complain that it is, but it won't change a thing. A employer can just tell us that there was someone more suited for the job. They don't need to say it was because we sent however many years dancing on strangers, dancing around a pole, all while taking our clothes off. And if by the grace of god, they do give us a chance, now we have to worry about a coworker recognizing us. Then it leads to harassment, and-" he stops and hides his face behind his hands as he let's out a muffled scream. "We're fucked, Evan... I'm fucked."

"Don't think like that," I tell him, trying to hold back my tears. "What about your daughter! You were doing all of this for her; so you could see her again!"

"Yeah, well that was before I got a bill for almost two hundred thousand dollars from the hospital! That was before I lost almost all of my money from this stupid drug habit! That was before I had to... I need to go to rehab."

"What?"

"A doctor at the hospital helped me get in contact with a rehab center, and they're going to try to help me while working with my schedule. But, I have to pay for this... I have to pay a lot. And if they find out that I fucked up again..." He sighs. "If there's anything I could do for my daughter, it will be for me to get clean. That way, if she ever finds me, I'm not too much of a disappointment to her."

"She wouldn't though," I try to reassure him.

"Save it, Evan. Saying things may make it easier for you to sleep at night, but it will do nothing for me. I've seen the light. I've seen the shadows... This job is a stain on our futures. A stain that will never go away and a stain that will keep us here forever. So you're better off getting use to it."

All words are caught in the base of my throat. Staring at the man in front of me, it's like someone had flipped a light switch. The annoyingly caring man turned into a man that doesn't want the future to happen anymore. A man that has given up everything he was working so hard for.

Shaking my head, I start backing away from him, until I turn around completely and leave him in the hallway. Neither of us say another word to each other.

I walk back to the bar and grab my notepad before I go back onto the floor, checking in with each of the customers at my tables, taking everyone's orders. By the time I get back to the bar, Ze finally comes back and he does the same thing I had done. Once all of our customers are taken care of, we meet back at the bar.

"So, what did Panda want to talk to you about," I ask him, wanting so badly to take my mind off of Brock right now.

"Oh, uh, he was just asking me how I'm liking this here, letting me know how I'm doing, and he was telling me he wants me to start looking up tricks for the pole or for me to find someone to teach me how it work it."

"Oh, that's really cool." I jump a little when I then feel my pocket vibrate, but quickly relax.

I then pull out my phone and unlock it, seeing that I got a text from Jon. Just seeing his name on my screen alone is enough to make me smile. He and I didn't really text while he was seeing his family last week, mostly because I wanted him to just spend time with them, so seeing this is telling me something really important before I even open it. It's telling me that he's back.

When I open the text, I lean against the bar and read, **_"Hey, babe; I just got back to my apartment. You working tonight, or can I see you?"_**

I quickly write back to him. _**"Welcome home, babe! Yeah, I'm at work right now, but I get off at my usual time. Want to meet up and tell me how everything went?"**_

After sending the text, I look up and see Ze smirking at me. "I know that smile," he says with a playful tone. "Is he home?"

I roll my eyes and laugh. "Yeah, he just got home. I'm trying to see if he and I can meet up after we get off work."

"Wait until tomorrow."

"What?"

"Meet up with him tomorrow. Mike will finally be able to meet up with me tomorrow, and we were going to the diner. You and Jon should come join us."

"You just want to do another double date," I say, laughing.

"Well, all my friends are single and a lot of them a man whores."

"What about his friends?"

"His friends are the man whores."

I laugh again and pull my phone out once I feel it vibrate in my pocket. I then open the text and quickly read it. _**"Not tonight. I'm tired as hell. Maybe tomorrow night?"**_

**_"We could make that work, if you don't mind doing a double date again."_ **

After I send my reply, I look back to Ze and open my mouth to say something, but I freeze when I feel a hand land on my shoulder. "You should know better than to be on your phone at work, Vanoss."

Tilting my head all the way back, I look up and see Panda looking down at me. I smile and laugh a bit. "Sorry, sir. It won't happen again."

He smiles back to me before he pats my shoulders and starts walking around me. I bring my head back down and watch as he walks around to Ze. "I would expect nothing less from you." He then turns back to me, placing his arm behind Ze. "Now, I need to go check in with some possible partners. Do me a favor and keep an eye on the place while I'm gone."

"In other words, make sure the place doesn't burn down," I laugh. "You got it, sir."

Panda nods and laughs before he turns away and starts walking off. I wait until he leaves the club before I pull my phone back out, feeling it vibrate while he was talking to me.

_**"How about you come over instead? I haven't seen you in a week, and I want to see you and soak up as much of you as I can."** _

I smile down at the text, feeling my face heat up a bit. _**"I guess I could make that happen. I'll see you tomorrow night, Del."**_

"Looks like it's a no on the double date this time," I tell Ze, putting my phone back in my pocket.

"Figured when you left it up to him," he laughs.

I look out to the floor, checking to see if anyone needed a refill on their drinks. "What do you mean?"

"Most of the time, guys aren't into double dates. You got to tell them that you want to do it, and stand your ground about it."

I look over to Ze and see him scanning the floor as well. "You make it sound like you have to actually fight for something like that."

"Well, Mike and I have argued before because I was pushing for our friends to date, just so I could go on a double date with them. They're a lot of fun, but, I'll admit, I was being a bit ridiculous, now that I think about it."

He turns his head and looks back to me. "Have you and Jon gotten into your first fight yet?"

"No; you make that sound like it's a requirement."

He laughs, "Well, for a good, healthy relationship, it kind of is."

I shake my head, "I don't want to fight with Jon."

Ze started laughing even more. "No one ever wants to fight. It just happens. After all, you two will be spending a lot of time together. You'll meet his friends, he'll meet yours. You'll share your hopes and dreams, and he will do the same. Then, worry will sink in, or jealousy will slide in, and boom. You two will fight. Or maybe there's a habit that one of you two have that the other doesn't like, and you hold in instead of talking it out. There are plenty of things that can cause a fight. It's normal. All that matters is how you two handle the aftermath."

I lean in close as if he's telling me the secret to conquering the world. "How did you handle your first fight?"

He looks down, his eyes focusing on something that isn't there, as if he was trying to remember something from so long ago. "Well, I doubt you'll have the same experience from my first fight and yours. Mike and I got in a fight because I started hating who he was becoming. While he was at the academy, he started hanging out with these douche bags that acted like they were above not only the law, but all of mankind. They were the type of police officers that everyone hated, let's just say that, and Mike was slowly starting to turn into them.  
When I called him out for changing, we got into a huge fight. He and I went back and forth for hours, yelling, screaming, saying everything from the truth to lies. When it ended, we just went to bed. I was tired, and he had class in the morning. When the fight was somewhat over, we didn't talk to each other. Went to bed pissed off, and I'm not going to lie, the bed never felt colder.  
The next morning, I felt like a dick, but so did he. He apologized to me, admitted that he had been changing, and he hadn't thought about who he was turning into and how it would effect me. I then apologized for a lot of the things I yelled at him. We made up and he stopped hanging out with those assholes."

I stare at him as if there was meant to me more to the story, but jump back when I feel my phone vibrate again. I pull it out and see that it was only a text from Jon. I open it to see that he started the text with me giving him a nickname based off of a nickname I don't even refer to him as, and ended it with a _**"I can' t wait to see you,"**_ and a _**"I love you."**_

I smile as I look over the text. _It may be healthy for him and I to have to fight at some point, but I hope that some point isn't soon._

The hours track on, and before we know it, we're down to the last hour. Tyler and David start pushing out the more "rowdy" customers out to make closing easier for us. I look down at my phone and start tapping my foot, nervously. Mini sees me and he walks over to me, leaning against the bar before asking, "What's wrong?"

"Panda isn't back yet," I tell him as I stare at my phone. He took off earlier, saying he needed to meet up with potential partners for the club, but he still hasn't come back yet."

"Maybe the meeting is taking longer than he thought it would."

"But he has the keys to lock the front door. I don't want to make Tyler and David stand outside, waiting for Panda to get back."

"Well, there's nothing we can really do," he tells me before he stands up. I look over to him and see him stretch his arms up, popping some of his joints. "Just get started on your closing duties. Collect glasses, drop off and pick up checks, and-"

Before he could finish his sentence, he and I both jump and feel our hearts stop at the sound of front door being kicked open. When I look over, I swear I can see the walls still shaking from how hard the door hit them. My heart starts beating harder... The banging... The shaking... The hiding... The yelling... The crying...

_Don't cry!_

"Where's Brock," I hear someone yell as I hold onto the bar to keep me from falling over.

_Don't cry!_

"He's in the back," I hear someone else yell back. "What's wrong?"

_Don't cry!_

"Vanoss?"

_Don't cry!_

My body starts to shake and my knees give out. I can barely hear anyone around me. "There was an accident at the hospital! They're going to call him about Marcel!"

_Don't cry!_

My breathing gets shaky, and I can't breathe. I'm fighting to get air in my chest, but nothing is working. It's like my lungs are being crushed.

There's a loud scream from the back. It's heart breaking, and it's the last thing I hear before my heart starts pounding so hard that it blocks out my hearing. I feel like my through it closing up! I can't breathe! Tears are filling my eyes! I can't see!

_Don't cry! You're not a little bitch! He didn't raise you to be a little bitch! Don't cry! Don't cry! Don't cry!_


	27. Another Broken Heart

_Don't cry! Don't cry! Don't cry! Don't cry! Don't cry!_

"Evan!"

_Don't cry! Don't cry! Don't cry! Don't cry!_

"Evan! Please calm down! Listen to me! Please!"

_Don't cry! Don't cry! Don't cry!_

"Stop shaking him! You're not helping him!"

_Don't cry! Don't cry!_

"Evan, you need to listen to me. I need you to take deep breaths."

_Don't cry!_

"Evan, come on! Listen to me! I need you to listen to me. Breathe in... and out... Breathe in... and out..."

... I start listening to the voice, however, it sounds muttered under the sound of my heart pounding in my chest and, seemly into my head. Slowly, I take a deep breath in and out. The more I do it, the more relaxed I feel. My lungs slowly feel like the pressure is no long weighing down my rib cage. My heart starts to slow down to a regular speed, and the pounding start to die down with it. After a minute, or maybe more, of deep breathing, I look up and see Ze kneeling down in front of me. His eyes are locked onto me, as if he is studying me like a textbook the day before finals.

_That look he is giving me... It's so serious... The vibe he's giving off... It's so different..._

Once I look up to him, he let's out a sigh of relief and pats my shoulder. "You scared us for a bit there. I didn't know you had panic attacks."

I shake my head as I push myself up, holding onto the bar for balance. "What happened?"

Ze stands up in front of me and has me walk over to a chair on the floor. He then makes me sit down before he calmly explains, "While we were closing up the club and kicking out the last of the customers, Panda rushed in, freaking out over something. Next thing we knew, Brock was freaking out in the back, screaming and breaking down into tears. When we looked over to you, you were on the floor, tears running down your face, shaking, you looked like you wanted to rip out your hair, and you were gasping for air. I've known a few people who have had panic attacks, so I knew that was what you were having."

Mini and Tyler walk over, and I can see a few tears still sliding down the sides of Mini's face. When he sees me, he rushes over and hugs me tightly. "Thank god you're okay."

"Do you have any idea what triggered his panic attack," Ze asks to both Mini and Tyler.

Tyler sighs and leans up against the table. "I definitely know what caused it. Though, it's up to Evan on if you should know about it too."

Mini pulls away and looks at me, also curious since I never told him about my past either. I take a deep breath and look down at my hands. I don't want to give away too much about my past now. I don't know how much Mike knows about what had happened to me before I ran away, meaning I don't know how much Ze knows.

"Before I left my family's home, I was abused by my parents. My mom was extremely neglectful and would sometimes not even know if I was home or not. And my dad... he would physically abuse me. Choke me out, beat me, and... sometimes he would either drag me to my room or chase me to it, and if I locked my door, he would pound on it so hard..." I pause and hold back my tears as I try to fight back certain memories of him doing this. His screaming, his words, the walls shaking.

"The walls would shake," I continue through, my voice starting to shake as tears build up again.

"That's enough, Evan," Ze quickly says.

"If he was angry enough," I continue, not really hearing Ze. "He would kick down the door to get to me."

"Evan stop! You don't need to say anymore!"

Tears fall onto my hands as I continue to stare down at them. "If he heard me crying... that always pissed him off the most... He **hated** hearing me cry. "

"Evan stop it!" I jump when I suddenly feel someone wrap their arms around my shoulders and I quickly try to get them off of me.

Without thinking, I yell out, "No please! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

However, after a bit, I stop. I realize that whoever is holding me isn't doing it to try to choke me. They aren't doing it to hold me down. They aren't doing it to drag me away. They're... hugging me.

"It's okay," I hear Ze whisper. "You're safe now. You're safe."

I take a few more deep breaths and try to pull myself together again as Ze just holds me close to him. After another minute or so, he let's me go and starts rubbing my back. "Now your panic attack makes sense," Ze calmly says. "You have PTSD from your childhood."

_Technically my childhood continued after I left, but that will just stay with me._

I nod my head. "Have you spoken to anyone about this?" I shake my head. "Okay, can you afford to speak to someone about this?"

"Are you suggesting he talk to a therapist," Tyler asks.

"It may be a good idea. I'm not going to force you to do it if you don't want to, but I definitely would recommend it."

I shake my head. "I don't know if that would work for me."

"At least let me text you the number for a therapist that works with the police department. They-"

"The police department," Tyler ask. This makes Ze freeze and I see his eyes go wide and the gears quickly start turning in his mind. "How do you know someone that works with the police department?"

"I, uh, I've gone to them. I'm kind of embarrassed to talk about it, but, when I was eighteen, I made the mistake of moving to another state to be with this girl I was in love with. She dumped me a month after I got there and I was so depressed, I almost flunked out of school. When I moved back to my parents' house, I was still really depressed, so I started seeing a therapist. Then, when I decided to move here, he recommend this new guy that I've been seeing. They both told me he actually works with the police department to try to make me feel more comfortable with opening up to him."

"Isn't it illegal for them to talk about other clients," Mini asks.

"Yes, but they weren't talking to me about a client. They were telling me about the types of clients he gets. They never gave me the names of anyone who sees him, but he will tell me a bit about what he talks about with them if he thinks it could help me, whether it is to help me relate to a problem or help me find a solution."

"I'll take the number," I quickly say in order to end the conversation. "Just, text it to me or something." He nods and pulls out his phone to text the number to me. "You said before I started having my panic attack that Panda came into the club freaking out and that Brock had screamed, right?" He nods without looking up from his phone.

"Oh shit, that's right," Tyler says, covering his mouth. "Fuck! So I now need to break this news to the three of you!?"

Mini, Ze, and I all look at each other before turning back to Tyler. "What do you mean," Mini asks him.

"Panda told me what happened before he ran to the back and before I ran over to get Mini. When you started having your panic attack, Mini started freaking out, shaking you like a rag doll to get you to snap back to reality."

"I thought for a second you were joking," Mini starts to explain. "But when I started calling your name, you wouldn't answer or look at me. I started shaking you to get you to listen to me or something! I didn't know what to do! Then Ze told me to stop and Tyler pulled me away to calm me down."

"Tyler, what happened," I ask again.

He pushes himself off of the table before he turns around and faces us. "Marcel is dead."

My jaw and heart drop. "What?!"

"There was an accident at the hospital. They told Panda a big air bubble was in the blood bag they used for him, and the nurse that had switched his old one with a new one missed it somehow. When the air got to his heart, it caused him to have a heart attack. They called him and Brock. Panda was hoping he could break the news to him first, so that he could keep Brock from reacting the way he did."

"What do you mean by that?"

"He was," Tyler bites his lip and looks away, trying to find the right words to say.

"He broke a mirror and was going to kill himself," Mini finishes.

"What!?"

"Evan, there's something we haven't told you," Tyler starts, which already starts pissing me off. "Brock and Marcel were a thing before you started working here. They had a secret relationship that they were going to go public with once they quit working here, but it ended when you got here."

I shake my head. "How do you know this? You just started working here at the start of the summer. "

"Marcel told me after I heard him hitting on Brock. I told him, as a joke, 'go ask him out. I won't tell anyone,' and then he told me everything. About how he and Brock started hooking up after a busy night and they both wanted to relax. About how they started going back to the apartments together almost every night. How they would sneak around to hide their relationship. I'm not going to lie, they had a really cute relationship, and I was confused about why they would break up when they seemed so happy together. But again, it ended after you came in."

"So... They might have still been in love with each other, " I say in a low voice. I then stand up and ask, "Where's Brock?"

"He should still be in the back."

"I'll walk back with you," Ze quickly says before he wraps his arm around my shoulders. With a slight push, he and I start walking to the back of the club. Through the heavy curtains, my heart breaks a little as I can hear heavy sobs coming from the back.

"Why would Brock and Marcel break-up because of you," Ze asks me.

I feel a lump build up in the back of my throat, but I try to swallow it as I quickly come up with something to tell him. "Well, I had to tell all the guys here about my past when I started. They knew that I was kind of young, just barely legal enough to handle drinks, and Marcel and Brock didn't like what they heard. For the last two years, they've spent so much time trying to get me out of here, find me a better job than this."

"You had a chance to get something better than this and you didn't take it?"

I chuckle. "Call me young and stupid. I thought this place was amazing. The lights, the glitter, the parties, the dancing, the music. I guess I got so caught up that I didn't see just how fucked up this place really was. Plus," I pause and take a deep breath before I continue. By this time, Ze and I are in the hallway between the stairwell and backstage again; however, we don't want go through the door until after we finish this conversation. "These guys were like my family. Or, the family I had when I was a kid. These guys were caring, loving, helped me when I needed them. They saved me in a way... But that was all before I learned how much they all lied to me when I started. Now, I don't know what to think."

"Do you think families don't lie to each other," Ze laughs. "I mean, my sister and I have so many secrets that we know about each other, but we swore to never tell our parents."

"I wouldn't call that the same as the lies these guys told me though. I mean, you and your sister weren't hiding something as big as drug use from your parents, right?"

"That's depends."

"What?"

"Would you consider weed a drug? I mean, Mike and I are California boys. We don't really see it as a drug, but some people still do."

I just raise an eyebrow and shake my head. "I don't really see it as a drug either. So-"

"There's also sneaking out and going to parties, which I've done a lot in high school. Not to mention the number of times I've gotten drunk off my ass, and the same goes for my sister."

"Okay, I get it. Family members do lie to each other. Doesn't mean it doesn't hurt when the truth comes out."

"I know. But you can't hold a grudge against them forever."

I sigh and look over to the door. "I know... I don't really hold anything against these guys for lying... Its just the secrets that I can't pretend to be okay with." Pushing myself off of the wall, I say, "Come on. Let's check on Brock."

He and I push open the door and walk to the dressing area. I see everyone all standing around, staring at the couch on the other end of the room, and the only sounds coming from anyone are a few light sobs, but those are all drowned out by the heavy sobs coming from a certain heart broken man.

Ze finds Chilled and GaLm in the crowd and walks over to them, hugging them both as they silently let tears roll down their cheeks. I, however, push my way through the crowd until I see the broken man crying into the couch, sitting on his knees. Panda and Lui are next to him, rubbing his back and trying to tell him that everything will be okay.

Not saying a word, I walk up to the three. Panda and Lui look up at me before they stand up and back away from him. I then get onto my knees and gently rub his back. I don't know what made him decide to look, but I see him turn his head towards me. Once he sees me, he wraps his arms around me and hugs me tightly, sobbing into my shoulder. I shut my eyes and hug him back, rubbing his back and saying nothing.

Now isn't the time to say anything.

Sometimes, all a person needs is some time to just cry. No peep talk. No, "everything will be okay." No talking at all. I may not know how close him and Marcel were, but just from the sound of his cries, I can tell that that's exactly what he needs right now.


	28. Brock

*Three Years Earlier*

*Brock's POV*

"That's it," I yell out, pulling a guy's hands off of me as I get off of him. "I'm fucking done!"

"What? Come on, you were just getting started!"

"Yeah, and I've told you ten times already to stop grabbing me! You grabbed my ass as I was walking by, grabbed my arms to pull me onto you, grabbed my ass again and again and again! This is the final fucking straw! If I told you not to grab my arms and ass, what the fuck told you that it would be okay to grab my dick!"

"Seriously? You take off your clothes for a living and you have the nerve to think you're too good to get fondled a little?"

"Fuck off," I yell, flipping the pervert off before I turn away to walk over to the bar. However, before I can even take three steps, he grabs my arm again and pulls me back to him.

"Hell no! I want my fucking lap dance, you fucking whore!"

"Get your hands off of me!"

I try to rip my arm out of the creep's grip, however, he pulls me close again, and this time, he pulls his arm back and punches me so hard in the ear that it starts ringing. I keep myself from falling to the ground, however, I cover my ear with my free hand in hopes of saving it from going out completely. I look over to the asshole, and smirk as I see a certain big, strong black man pop up behind him.

Before the creep can even notice my smirk, Marcel wraps his arm around his neck and pulls him back, causing him to let go of my arm and start stretching at his arms, as Marcel starts choking him out. "That's it, you're out of here, jackass," Marcel yells at the guy. "It's one thing to grope the dancers, but hitting them is a big no-no! You'll be lucky if Panda doesn't call the cops on you!"

He then drops the asshole, bringing him to his knees at my feet as he gasps for air, which honestly, makes me smile. That smile gets even bigger when Marcel grabs this guy by his collar and drags him out of the club.

I stand there and watch as the asshole kicks and screams before he is thrown out the door. Marcel then slams the door in his face and David holds them closed before Marcel walks back over to me. "You okay?"

"Better after seeing that," I tell him, laughing. I then look into his eyes, and feel my heart start beating a little harder. "Thanks for doing that. I hope Panda doesn't chew you out for it."

"He won't," he tells me with a smirk on his face. "I asked him how many days you worked this week, and according to him, the answer is every day. Meaning, if he injured your ear with that punch, and you have to take off just as the summer kicks off and we lose our younger dancers, then he will be losing money. We can't afford to lose an customers you always manage to bring in."

I try not to let my cheeks turn red as I look away from Marcel. "You flatter me," I chuckle before I pull my hand away from my ear, since it had finally stopped ringing.

"You sure you're okay," he asks, worry laced in those four simple words.

"I'll be fine. I just need a drink. You think this new guy knows how to make a White Russian?"

"Only one way to find out," he shrugs before patting my shoulder. I roll my eyes and walk away, making my hips sway a little more than usual, silently hoping he's watching me.

Once I get to the bar, I lean against the corner and say, "Hey Smitty. You know how to make a White Russian, right? "

The baby-faced, bouncy black haired boy jumps up from behind the bar and smiles at me. "Of course. That's one of the easier mixed drinks to make."

He pulls out a small glass and puts in a few cubes of ice. I then watch as he pulls out the vodka and coffee liquor, trying to flip them and almost dropping them.

"Careful," I say, a little harshly. "I know you want to look cool, but Panda is going to be pissed if you break another bottle."

"Hey, that was not my fault," he says, pointing the jigger at me. "The edge of the bar hit the bottle and it made it bounce to the floor."

"And if you weren't trying to flip the bottle, it wouldn't have hit the bar. Hell, you should be happy the bottle didn't shatter when it hit the bar."

"Whatever."

He puts the jigger on the bar and pours some vodka into it, measuring it to make sure he isn't adding too much in. That's one think I'm happy that he know to do. He just started a few weeks ago, and one of the biggest things I and Panda were worried about was if he would just pour however much he thought was needed into a glass, wasting product and getting the customers shit-faced.

I turn my body slightly and look out onto the floor. I see almost all of our dancers either walking around or giving lap dancers. On stage, I can't help but be amazed as I watch everyone's favorite making the club his.

As the music fills the room, drowning out all noise from the outside, Lui takes hold of the pole and spins around it, wrapping his legs around, having the pole resting in the back of his knees, and he pulls one of his hands off of it. When he starts to slow down, he uses his body weight to push himself forward, making him start to spin again. He pulls one of his legs into his chest before he pulls it behind him, pinwheeling and slowly sliding down until he is on the floor. He lets go of the pole and takes a few steps back, his eyes locked on the pole and a smirk on his face.

I smile when I see that look, knowing what he's about to do. It's what makes him so popular when he has only been here for a year.

With no hesitation, he jumps up towards the pole, taking it in his hands and holds his body up. With the force from the jump, he swings his legs into the pole, making it slam into the crease between his pelvic area and thigh. He then swings his legs back moves them slightly when he pulls them away from the pole, so that when he swings them back towards the pole he can swing his body around it. As gravity pulls his body down, he straightens one leg and pulls it up while he bends the other one in and pulls it close to him.

"Yeet," is all I hear from behind me, and instantly I snap back to reality.

"Fuck, no," I yell out, but it was too late. Smitty threw out my drink, trying to slide it to me, however, since I was turned away and slightly amazed by Lui's dance, by the time I reached out to try to save the drink, it had already slid past me. Him and I then watch as it slid for a few more seconds before it hit the edge of the bar, falling to the floor, shattering.

As soon as we hear the glass break, I slowly turn my head and look at Smitty. "How many was that today?"

He looks back to me nervously before he chuckles and pulls out his dust pan and broom. He then rushes over to the outside of the bar and starts sweeping up the broken pieces, only telling me, "I'll get you another drink in a second."

As he sweeps up the broken glass, I ask again, this time louder, "Smitty; how many glasses was that today?"

I see him look over his shoulder to me before he runs back behind the bar, throwing the glass away. "Three less than yesterday," he then quickly says before he puts the dust pan and broom away.

"You broke five glasses already!?"

"What do you mean 'already'?! It's ten til midnight!"

"You seriously need to stop sliding the glass on the bar. No one is paying attention to you when you slide the drinks to them."

"That's why I yeeted."

"You yeet as you throw it! That's not enough time! Just please, Smitty. Stop sliding the drinks. I like you, and you're going to get fired if you keep doing this."

"But placing the drinks next to the customers doesn't look as cool."

I sigh and shake my head, covering my face with my hands. "This is what happens when Panda hires a eighteen year old as a bartender. You're not even supposed to work with alcohol yet."

"Oh please, one year makes such a big difference."

I move my hands off of my face and look back to Smitty when I hear his phone buzz against the bar. He pulls it out from where he hides it and I see him open someone on it. After a few seconds he smiles and taps on the screen a few times before he puts his phone away again. He then finishes my second drink and places it in front of me this time. "There you go."

"Thanks. Put it on my tab," I tell him before I stir the drink, mixing the heavy cream in with the liquor and vodka.

"Can't do that."

"What? Why?"

"Because," he starts, leaning close to me and batting his eyes at me. "A certain someone asked me to put it on their tab."

He then points out onto the floor. I look over in the direction he's pointing, and I see, standing by the entrance as always, is Marcel. However, instead of scanning the floor like he's supposed to, he's looking over at me. When we lock eyes, he just smiles at me before he goes back to doing his job. This makes me smile before I take my first drink.

When I turn back to the bar, I almost jump back, forget that Smitty was leaning in close to be weird. "So, you and Marcel," he says, wiggling his eyebrows.

Rolling my eyes, I push him away. "There's nothing happening. Just a little flirting."

"Oh come on. It's obvious to everyone here that you guys are into each other. There's no reason to act like you guys aren't."

"Okay, let's say that Marcel and I were into each other. It wouldn't chance shit. I know you're new, but don't forget the rules. Employees aren't allowed to date each other or the customers."

"You act like that would stop anyone. Some rules were made to be broken."

"Yeah, but not when it could end with you getting fired."

He shakes his head again. "Fine. But you know you're going to be missing out. You and Marcel would be a cute couple."

I chuckle and roll my eyes. "Thanks, and thanks for the drink. You did a pretty good job on it."

"It literally has three ingredients! Have more faith in me, brother!"

I laugh and pat the bar. "Shut up, man." I smile at him before I start walking away again, this time heading for the back door, but I stop when I hear someone else yelling.

"I told you no! Seriously, leave me alone!"

I turn my head and watch as the light bounces off of a bell collar, which bounces up and down as the guy that's wearing it tries to speed walk to the back door. His blond hair bouncing as well, making his clip on cat ears look like they are moving with him.

"Please, Bryce," one of our regulars says as he tries to grab onto Bryce's arm. "I need you! I want you so badly! Please, I can take care of you! I can satisfy you like no one else can!"

"I'm not going to say it again! No!"

As soon as Bryce passes by the last table, he takes off, running to the back door. As I watch him running, I silently wish that I hadn't stopped walking when I heard him yelling. That way I could have held the door open for him. But now, after seeing how Ryan reacted last week when he came and Bryce wasn't here, I can only silently pray to any god that would listen, that he makes it through that door.

I don't know who heard me, but I can't help but let out a sigh of relief when Bryce pulls the door open and manages to shut it behind him before Ryan ran up to it. I then feel my heart jump up to my throat as he then starts pounding on door, trying to pry it open.

"Come on! Bryce! Open up! Give me a fucking chance! Come on, Bryce!"

I take a step back, freaked out. I quickly look over towards the entrance and see David and Marcel already making their way over to him. However, before they even make it half way through the room, I feel a little gust of wind blow past me and someone rip my drink out of my hand. By the time I look over, I see someone wearing a gray bodysuit and shorts with a cotton tail pointing out, and bunny ears flying behind him, jumping onto Ryan's back, my drink in his hand. I then see him bring the drink down so hard that the glass shatters on Ryan's head.

"I didn't do that this time," Smitty yells out behind me.

Marcel and David soon run by me and tackle both Ryans to the ground. David pulls our little rabbit off of Ryan and he pushes him over to me. Knowing about Ohm and Bryce, I quickly run over and wrap my arms around Ohm's arms and I start to pull him back as David and Marcel start to pull Ryan off of the ground and drag him away.

Ohm struggles in my arms as we watch the three go towards the entrance, and I don't let him go until I see them push Ryan out. When I let Ohm go, I bring my hands onto my hips and glare at him. "Did you really need to take my drink? I literally just got groped and hit by a jackass and was looking forward to that."

"I'll buy you another," he says, panting. He then turns to the door and he walks over to it. He knocks on the door and loudly, but calmly says, "It's safe."

I walk over as Bryce opens the door and pokes his head out before he joins Ohm and myself. "I don't know how much more of this I can take," Bryce says, shaking his head. "He's literally crazy!"

"He wasn't like this before you came in," I jokingly say.

"Yeah; maybe you're a witch's cat and she casted a spell on him," Ohm laughs.

"Stop it! I am not a witch's cat," Bryce laughs back, pushing us both.

After our laughter dies down, I look back up towards the stage and see Lui in the middle of his routine. His body away from the pole, arms out, and the pole was just between his legs.

"But seriously," Bryce says, rubbing his arms as nervously. "I don't know how much more I can take of this. This has been happening for so long and-"

"Hey," Ohm starts, reaching over and gently pulling Bryce over for a hug. "It's okay. You'll be okay. I promise, I won't let anything happen to you."

I smile as I watch Bryce rest his head on Ohm's shoulder as he hugs him back. They're really bad at hiding their relationship at work, but it won't change the fact that all of us love seeing them together. A lot of us have been hoping the two would get together after getting to know Bryce, so, it's something that we don't mind hiding from Panda.

Soon Ohm looks over to me, his arms still around Bryce, and he tells me, "I'll get you another drink. Thanks for letting me use it to hit the jackass."

"It's no problem," I say, walking to the back. "I mean, I didn't let you take my drink, but either way, it's no problem."

I walk backstage and see that I'm pretty much alone. Everyone else is working the floor until it's their turn on pole, and it would be my turn next, so I need to get ready. Sighing, I walk over to my vanity and sit down, looking at myself in the mirror. It's honestly been a long day already, and I can feel my body start to ache... Or maybe that isn't from the long day. My eyes slowly fall down to the drawer in front of me, and I can feel my heart pounding in my chest. I've been craving it all day. I've been having trouble sleeping. I've been more anxious than normal.

_God, I wish I never started._

I tap my fingers on the top of my vanity, trying to fight off this urge the best I can. However, the more I sit here, the more I start to lose this fight.

My fingers stop and slowly start to fall down to the drawer. I slowly start to open it and come face to face with the thing that is causing my nightmares. The bag of white powder.

I bite my lip as I stare down at it... I want it... I need it... But... My daughter. I finally have enough money saved up that I could afford a house and a new car, but I'm just saving up a little more so that we could live a comfortable life for a short time while I look for another job. So... I want to get clean... But god the withdrawal. Its becoming so much... Just one line wouldn't hurt, right?

I reach into the drawer and pull out the bag, putting it on the vanity. I lick my lips as I stare at it. I start to open it.

"You don't want to do that." I jump when I hear that voice and turn around to see Marcel standing at the doorway to the hall with a glass in his hand. He walks over to me and places the glass in front of me. Its another White Russian. He takes the bag off of the vanity and throws it in the trashcan next to me.

I jump up to try to get the bag, but before I can even lean over, Marcel puts his forearm on my chest and pushes me to the ground. I land on my back and I start to push myself up seconds after hitting the ground, but he pins me down with his leg, sitting his body on top of mine. He then puts his hands on my shoulders and makes me look into his eyes. "You know you are stronger than that! You know you can do better than that. You can get clean, Brock. Stop letting it get into your goddamn head and try harder to fight it!"

I stare up at him, shocked, and unsure of what to think. After a bit, he gets up and helps me up to my feet. "You told me you wanted to quit, right," he asks, staring into my eyes. I just nod. "Well, I'm going to help you. I know you can get through this, and, I want to see you with your daughter again." He runs his hand along the side of my face. "I want to see you out of here." He leans in close. "I want us to stop hiding."

I sigh and wrap my arms around his neck as his hands slide down to my hips. "I know... I want that too." I then tilt my head up and kiss him. 

Two months of hiding... Two months of late nights... Two months of loving someone and not being able to scream it from the rooftops... Now I see why Ohm and Bryce aren't able to hide it.


	29. Sweet Kisses and Memories

Standing in front of the club, I look up and see the bright neon sign. "Big, Bad Panda Club"... Two years ago, that sign was shining so brightly that it shown through the darkness surrounding it. However, something has changed... No. Nothing has changed. I can just see it now.

I can see that the darkness isn't surrounded it... It's coming from it. The neon lights are hiding it. Everyone inside... They all were trying to hide it. But you can only hide it for so long.

***

"Will he be okay," I ask Tyler when he walks out of Brock's apartment. Myself, Mini, Lui, and Tyler were all worried about Brock, so while Tyler drove him back to the apartments, we had followed close behind them and walked with them to his apartment. Tyler was the only one to walk in through, mainly because Brock didn't want all of us to crowd around him while Tyler was trying to help him.

"I think he will be. Fuck," he starts as he starts over to a bench in the courtyard and he sits down on top of the table. "These past few months have been fucking insane. Bryce dying, Lui fainting and falling off the stage, Brock almost dying, Smitty dying, and now Marcel. Fuck."

"Alright; who fucked over a leprechaun," Lui asks in his sqeaker voice.

"This is serious, Lui!" The tone of Tyler's voice makes both Lui and I flinch, but I quickly recover and give him a little hug.

"Are you kidding me, Tyler," Mini yells. "We get that this is serious, but that doesn't mean you have to be a dick! All of us are going through a lot right now, and maybe some of us need a god damn laugh! Or would you rather have us all crying and silent like Brock! Would you rather have us lock ourselves away like how Evan did was when we lost Bryce and Ohm?!"

Tyler's expression changed and he got off of the table. "No, I didn't mean-"

"All of us are worried," Mini says, glaring at Tyler. "All of us are scared. A lot of shit has been happening, and the only thing we can look at and say that it's good is the fact that we haven't seen that many people stalking us! That's it! We've lost a lot of good friends and almost lost a lot more. But I'm sick of worrying about that! I'm sick of worrying about who will die next, who will get fired or quit, or who will go into the hospital!   
Right now, we have a choice! We can either keep worrying over all of this shit, or we can pick our short shorts and move on! And I don't know about you, but I'm not going to sit around and wait for whatever comes next."

He then looks back to Lui and I. "I don't plan to stick around forever. Hell, I only. Have two years left of university and then I graduate. But I'll be damned, if I let this fear keep a hold of me during the rest of my time with this job. And if you guys plan on staying, I can't imagine coming to work everyday, scared that something might happen. If you guys plan on leaving too though, then you're definitely better off looking forward to the day you get the hell out of here over worrying about what could or could not happen that day."

I stares at Mini, both shocked and inspired by his words.

"That's all nice and all, Min," Tyler sighs before he leans back up against the table. "But all of that is easier said than done. It's easy to say, let's stay positive until we all get the fuck out of this place, but the act of being or thinking positively is the hard part. Especially when, the things that we are all afraid of, is everywhere around us.  
We're afraid for ourselves, we're afraid for each other. We look at the vanities backstage, that's where Bryce died. We look at the stage, that's where Brock overdosed and you fell off the stage from being over worked. We look at the bar, and it feels wrong. It feels wrong looks over and not seeing Smitty doing stupid tricks. It feels wrong not hearing someone yelling yeet every six minutes. And it feels wrong standing in the same place where Marcel fought off a killer and got shot."

"Then why stay," I speak up. Everyone looks to me, and I let go of Lui.

_It's my turn to take the stage._

"Honestly, I've been working here for almost two god damn years, and all this shit is enough to make me want to quit. Pack up everything and get the fuck out of here. Never look back. But I can't.   
I can't, because what can I do? I'm a seventeen year old run away that dropped out of school at fifteen! I have to take online classes under a fake identity, and stay here because where else am I going to go? Not only that, but I'll have to pay my way through college as well, because no one else can do it for me.   
You, on the other hand, are an adult! You're nineteen, finished high school, going to college, can get scholarships, have a family you can turn to if things fall through! I don't have that, Tyler! You do! You and almost everyone else here has that!   
So if you're so fucking worried, so scared, and hate this place so much, what's stopping you from leaving?!"

Tyler just stares at me in shock, jaw hanging out. After a few seconds of silence, Mini says, "I already said why I'm staying. I need the money for school. And once I'm done with school, I'll leave."

"And I'm use to this stuff," Lui says, shrugging his shoulders. "I've been working for the club for years, and I'm not going to lie, it's always been fucked up. Stalking, sexual harassment or assaults, overdoses, fainting from exhaustion. All that shit has been around for the longest time. It just calmed down for a while, and came back with a vengeance. It seems like a lot, but really, this is nothing."

"You shouldn't be able to say that," Tyler says, shaking his head and staring at Lui.

"But I can. Yes, it's fucked up that I can say all of this, but it won't change the fact that I am use to it. I mean, I'll still get sad seeing it happen to anyone I care about and I'll still cry when one of us die, but the shock and surprise that first hits when anyone hears about any of this at the club doesn't come to me anymore.  
If I wanted to leave the club, I would. I just don't want to. Even if I did, I don't have anywhere to go. I only have a high school education, and most places will hire either high school students or college students or grads. There's really no middle ground for someone like me. But, like I said, I don't have any plans to leave. I like this job, even with all its faults.  
So, Mini, Evan, and I all said why we're staying. Why are you, Tyler?"

He looks at all three of us and stays silent for possibly a minute before his eyes fall to the ground. "B-because," he starts, his voice starting to shake a bit. "Th-there's..." He clears his throat and turns away from us, shaking his head and trying to get his thoughts in order.

When he turns back around, he stares straight a head. "Because... I'm staying for someone. Someone that I care about so much that it pains me to see them scared or hurt. Someone that I want to protect, but honestly, aftering getting to know them, I know they are able to protect themselves. Someone that haunts my dreams every night and makes me feel both weak and strong when I'm around them. Someone that blew me away so much, that I asked Panda to make sure that I worked almost every single shift with him... And when I had my party for my friends... I personally requested for him... For you to be there."

As Tyler spoke, my jaw slowly dropped at I realized two things. One, he's only staying at the club because he's in love with someone there. And two, he wasn't staring straight ahead... He was staring at Mini.

Lui and I look to each other, both of our jaws wide open, and then we look over to Mini. He's staring back at Tyler, his hand covering his mouth and his eyes wider than I thought were possible. Lui and I take a few steps to the side, wanting to watch what happens next, but not wanting to get in the middle of whatever happens if it doesn't end well.

"Y-you're staying at the club... For me?" Tyler keeps his eyes on Mini as he nods his head. "Tyler... That's the stupidest thing you could do. If you don't like it, you should leave. You shouldn't have to put up with some place you don't like or you don't feel safe at."

"I don't care, Craig. Leaving isn't an option for me. I don't want to have to stop talking to you."

"Do you think it's impossible to find someone after both of you leave the club?! You can leave, do whatever you want, and after I am done with school, I can leave and look you up so we can have a beer or something! You don't have to put yourself though anything for me!"

"I don't fucking care, Craig," Tyler says a little louder before he takes a couple steps towards Mini. "I don't care if I'm not comfortable seeing my friends get hurt or dying. I mean, fuck, who is fine with that?! But, if I couldn't see you every day, talk to you every day, know if you're safe or not... I couldn't function. Not after meeting you. Not after falling for you."

Mini just stands in front of Tyler, frozen in place as Tyler walks a little closer every second. When they are just inches away from each other, he stops moving. "Tyler, you know the rules-"

"I don't care. Craig, I love you and I want to be with you... Rather it's as just friends or more."

I cover my mouth with my hands to keep me from making any noise that could possibly ruin this moment. I just want to yell at them to kiss or run over and push their heads together. However, the next move has to come from Mini. And what he decides to do almost makes me scream.

Shaking his head, Mini smiles at Tyler and takes a step forward, saying, "If we get caught, I'm going to kill you." He then wraps his arms around Tyler's waist, pulling him close before he leans in and kisses him.

Lui and I both squeal as we watch them, just happy to see some nice happening for the first time in a long time. I pretty much start jumping around from the excitement, but that quickly ends when I look over and see Brock staring at us from the window of his apartment.

My smile fades away, and while the other three are distracted, I walk over to Brock's apartment and knock on the door. A few seconds past before he opens the door, and I don't wait before I walk in and he shuts the door behind me. I then turn around and see him leaning against the door, turned so that he was facing me, however, he is hanging his head, eyes on the floor.

Not really knowing what I should do, I decide to walk over and lean against the wall next to him, looking over to him. "Are you okay," I ask, not knowing what else to ask.

"Yeah... No... I don't know," Brock says before he slides down to the floor and pulling his knees into his chest. "Marcel and I were a lot closer than people know... I loved him. When I started, he had already been there for a year. He helped me save up some money for my little girl when she needed surgery. He helped me emotionally when my ex-wife took me back to court and got me fired. He was my best friend, and over time, I started to fall for him."

"Marcel told Tyler that you guys use to date."

He chuckles a bit. "Of course he did."

I slide down next to him and sit crossed legged. "You want to tell me what happened?" He looks over to me from the corner of his eye and looks away, telling me that he's hesitant about it. "It's good to talk about the happier memories, you know. It makes it easier to remember them and hold them close, and in return, it makes it easier to move on."

He sighs before he starts, "Alright... It all happened four years ago. I was having a really bad day. People kept groping me, grabbing me, and I got slapped by a wife because I was dancing on her husband. Not like I knew who he even was. He had money, wanted a dance, so I gave him one. I didn't ask questions, and I still won't."

"You're remembering all of this so well for it to have happened four years ago," I chuckle.

"Well, with what happened next, it makes it so easy to remember this day. So, after work, a few of the guys at the time would stay behind to get some drinks; and after the day I had, I decided to join them. Tom, the bartender before Smitty, was strict about what we did though. He was a college kid, was just about to quit, but he never wanted us to get hurt. So, everyone needed a DD. Marcel volunteered to be mine.  
He sat by and watched as I got drunk off my ass, and then he drove me back. Thanks to how much liquid courage I had at the time, I decided to make a move. And this is what makes me remember that night so well. Do you know what he did when I tried to get him into bed?"

"I don't know if I want to know."

"Well, you're already wrong. He did nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing. He pushed me away from him after I told him how I felt and I tried to kiss him. When that happened, I was kind of hurt... But then he told me something that made me love him even more. He told me 'I can't. You're drunk, and I don't even know if you will remember any of this in the morning. So, I can't... Even though I really want to hold you and kiss you, I can't. Not when you're like this.'"

I smile and lean close before I ask, "What happened next?"

"He put me to bed. The next morning, I jumped out of bed, popped a couple aspirins, and I ran up to his apartment. Then, I kissed him, told him I remembered everything that had happened the night before, and that I told him that I thought I was in love with him. He told me the same thing and he kissed me." He sighs as he smiles at the memory, tears starting to slide down his face.

He then frowns before he says, "When he and I broke up, it was only supposed to be for a while. Just until we got you out and I got a lawyer to help get my daughter back... The longer it took, the more he started to push for us to just get back together. I didn't want to risk us getting caught... Now I'm starting to wish I had said yes to the first time he asked. Now I'm starting to wish I kissed him more often than I did... Now I'm... Now I'm starting to wish that I told him I loved him more often." He buries his face into his knees as he bursts into a heavy sob.

My heart breaks as I see him cry, and I begin to feel absolutely horrible. He stayed at the club because of me. He broke up with Marcel so Panda couldn't fire them if the got caught, so he could get me out... If I wasn't so fucking stubborn before...

I scoot over and wrap my arms around him, making him turn and bury his face into my shoulder. I try to hold back my own tears as I listen to his sobs for several minutes.

When he finally calms down, he pulls away from me and stands up, looking away from me. "It's getting late. You should head to bed."

"Are you going to bed okay," I ask before I push myself up.

"I will be... Not soon, but I will be. I just need something to take my mind off of everything."

I hug him again before he opens the door for me. As I walk out, I look over to where Tyler, Mini, and Lui once were, and see that they aren't there anymore. _They must have gone back to their apartments._

"Hey, Evan." I turn back around to face Brock, who is looking down at his feet. "Do me a favor... Spend more time with your boyfriend."

"What?"

"My marriage fell apart because I became distant with her. I rarely spent time with her, barely listened to her when she talked... And I realize now that I do that in all of my relationships. Marcel was just willing to put up with it. What I had with him was amazing... I just wish I spent more time with him. I wish I started dating him again. I wish I had more happy memories with him. I wish I took more pictures... Don't make the same mistake I did."

I stare at him, bewildered. This was not something I expected to hear from him after what he told me earlier. However, what he is telling me now, it has me thinking.

_How much time do I spend with Jon? Is it enough? If he died tomorrow, how many happy memories would I have? Do I have any pictures?... How much have I been missing?_

"... Okay. I will."

He gives me a small smile before he closes the door, leaving me alone outside. There's no noise, no wind, no soul in sight. As I turn and start walking over to my apartment, I think of everyone that we lost, and everything that has happened to us over the past three months. Everything has gone to hell... I have a lot saved up. I could very easily move in with Jon, quit this job, and never look back. But is our relationship strong enough for that?

_Maybe I really do need to spend more time with him..._


	30. Accusation

"Hey babe," Jon happily says as he opens the door for me.

I smile widely when I see him, just now realizing how much I actually missed him. "Hey babe," I reply before I walk over and wrap my arms around his neck, giving him a sweet, gentle kiss. His hands waste no time making their way on my body, gently rubbing them up and down my hips before he wraps them around my waist and pulls me into his apartment.

He then pushes me up against the door before he starts running his hands all over my body; and I have to admit, I feel a bit aroused by his touch. Even though I admittedly don't want to, I push him away from me.

"Well, it looks like someone missed me," I playfully say before I wink at him.

This makes Jon chuckle before he pulls me close to him. "You're one to talk."

He then loosely wraps his arm around my waist before he walks me over to his couch and has me sit down. "You thirsty, babe," he asks as he walks over to his kitchen.

"If you had some water, I wouldn't say no," I joke as I watch him walk to his fridge. He opens it and pulls out a couple bottles of water out before he walks back over to me, handing one of them to me. He then sits on the stool by the island before he takes a drink, while I put mine on his coffee table. I smile up to him and lean back, turning towards him. "So, how was your trip back home?"

"It was nice. Got to see my mom, dad, and sister. Caught up with them for the first time in a long time. Got to see a few old friends that were in town as well."

"That's awesome."

"Well, it was. Only person I wish I didn't see when I went back is Annie."

"Who's Annie?"

"I'm surprised I haven't told you about her soon. She's this girl that's close to my family, but that's only because she's the daughter of the pastor of my parents' church. She is so annoying. She always walks around thinking she's holier than thou, and acts like she's the bitch that will birth the second coming of God, or whatever. I was really hoping I could just visit and not see her, but like hell my mom would let that happen. She fucking invited her to dinner and spent the entire time trying to get me to talk to her."

"Why would she push this girl on you so much?"

"Because I've known this girl since we were babies. She use to be cool and we use to friends, but when we got into middle school, she became a hardcore bible thumper, and I started looking at guys in the locker room. The more she opened her mouth, the more she started to annoy me, so I stopped talking to her. But just because I wanted nothing to do with her hasn't stopped my mom from wanting her and I to date."

I can't help but burst out laughing when he said that last line. "Wait, your mom wants you to date a pastor's daughter? Oh god, she must have been shocked when you told her you were actually dating a guy." I look up in time to see his eyes grow wide after my statement, and he quickly takes a drink of water. However, that was enough for me to get the message, and I stop laughing.

"You haven't told her about us yet?"

He puts the bottle down a sucks in air. "Well, uh... No. No I haven't."

"Why," I practically yell, jumping off of the couch. 

A million different things start swirling around in my head. A million little things that hurt me. And the one the screams the loudest, the one that guys all hate when they think about dating. The one thing that kills us and makes us all feel the same. Like a dirty, secret. A fetish. Something everyone wants to fuck, and no one wants to be seen with.

"Are you embarrassed of me?"

"What," Jon yells, jumping off of the stool. "Where the hell did you get that?!"

"You didn't answer the question, so that must be it, huh? You didn't tell your mom about us, because you're embarrassed that your boyfriend works at a strip club!"

"What?! No! Evan, I'm not embarrassed about what you do! I have no reason to be."

"Then why didn't you tell your mom about us? We've been dating for three months, I would have thought we were serious!"

"We are, Ev. It's just- it's complicated."

I glare at him and cross my arms. "Have you told anybody about us?"

"Of course! Most of my friends know about you and have met you, you know that."

"I mean besides the guys that were at the party. Did you tell anyone from North Carolina about us? Your dad? Sister? Any of your friends? Or even bible bitch?"

He looks away from me and bites his cheek before he says, "Well, no. But it's not because of that!"

"Bullshit!"

"Evan, I swear! I'm not embarrassed by what you do! I don't care what people think about you!"

"If that's true, then why haven't you told anyone from your home town about us!? If you're not embarrassed, then what is it?!"

"Evan, calm down! You are looking too much into this!"

My mind starts to swirl around again. My head feels like a spinner. The thoughts start to slow down until it comes to a complete stop on another thought. One that might hurt me just as much as the first one.

"Is there someone else?"

"What!?"

"Is there someone else?! Is there someone that you like in North Carolina?! Someone you want to "stay single for"? Someone you don't mind having a secret life for or something?!"

He shakes his head and groans, "What is wrong with you, today?! You're acting like a damn child!"

"I just want to know why you didn't tell anyone about us! You tell me you love me, you treat me well, I'll admit that, but when it comes to your family and your friends that weren't at the party, suddenly I'm not important enough to bring up?!"

"I don't need to bring you up! We've only been dating for three months!"

"Right," I say in a sarcastic tone, rolling my eyes. "And you're telling me your mom just assumed that you moved to a big city to go to college, and after four months, you're still going to be single. You're not even going to be talking to someone. You're just going to stay single until you go back and you're going to realize Annie is all you need? You're telling me that's what was going through their head, so the idea of asking you "are you seeing anyone" never came to their mind, and never came out of their mouths?"

I can see anger start to boil up in his eyes as he glares at me. "So what if they asked?!"

"If they don't know about me, then that means you told them you weren't seeing me! That you weren't seeing anyone! So you purposely hid me and our fucking relationship from them!"

"You don't know shit, Evan! Stop trying to make me look like such bad guy when I haven't done shit!"

"Maybe to you, but I don't hide us from anyone, except Tyler and my boss! How would you feel if I had told Ze that you were just some guy I know?!"

"You are comparing bullshit! My family are nothing like your friends? My family are all god fearing, well respected people, and your friends-" he stops himself, but it's far too late.

I feel my body start to tense up as I glare at him even more. He stays silent, not looking at me, and I can see that he is looking for a way out. However, I'm beyond pissed now.

"Say it," I growl, my eyes locked on him. "Fucking say it! Your family is well respected, while my friends are fucking strippers!"

He rolls his eyes and grabs his water. "You know what, I'm done. I'm not doing this with you! You're not going to listen, and I'm not going to fuck myself over by saying shit! So just go, calm the fuck down, and talk to me when you're ready to listen!"

I then watch as he walks to the back area of his apartment, soon leaving my sight, before I hear him slam his door. When I hear his door, I gasp and start taking deep breaths before I can fall into another episode. I don't want to have a panic attack right now, and Ze told me this morning that this could help me. I keep my eyes closed as I take deep breaths, try relaxing my muscles. It doesn't really feel like it's working, until I think back to my happy place. The place that brings me to the most peace...

_I'm in the middle of the park that my parents use to take me to all the time as a kid. The sky is bright and clear. The wind is blowing, picking up the natural scent of all of the flowers around. And my parents... They're there. They're watching me. I can run up to them and hug them._

When I open my eyes, I take another deep breath before I fall onto the couch. I take the bottle of water Jon gave me and I chug the entire bottle in ten seconds. Once its gone and I feel like I can think again, I look over to the hallway leading to Jon's room. Then I start thinking about the fight.

_He said something about it being complicated and that I don't understand what's going on... What did he mean by that?... Was I out of line with how I reacted?..._

I take another deep breath, letting out the air into a long sigh before I sit back and pull out my phone. I don't want to leave until Jon and I talk this out. So, I'm going to wait fr him to come out.

I wait for over an hour, and nothing happens. Jon doesn't come out of his room, and I don't move from his couch.

The longer this takes, the more worried I honestly become. I don't know if I just made him angry or if I had actually made him upset. My heart starts to ache a bit the more I wait, and I instantly know that I can't leave at all. So, I send Panda a text, telling him that I wasn't feeling well and that I wouldn't be able to go in tonight.

I then go back to waiting; silently hope that he would come out soon. Then, when I was starting to actually feel sick from my nerves starting to get to me, I hear his door open. I look to the hallway, and watch as he makes his way to the opening and stop when he sees me.

"What are you still doing here," he asks, confused and a little annoyed.

"I want to hear your side," I tell him, much calmer than I was a long time ago. "I know that I came off as crazy, but I really love you, and I thought we were serious... I thought you thought the same thing... I just... I just want to know why you lied to them."

He stares at me for a bit before he sighs and sits next to me on the couch. He then looks down at his hands and says, "Like I was saying before, telling them about this is complicated, but it isn't because of you or where you work... in North Carolina, my parents are well respected people in the church they go to, which is the same church Annie goes to, and the very one I was forced to go to growing up. In other words... If I were to come out as gay, I don't know how they will both react and how it will affect them in the church."

My eyes widen as I finally understand why it was so complicated for him to tell them about us. "You're still in the closet."

He nods. "The only people that know that I'm gay are the guys that came here with me, and my ex boyfriend that still lives back home. The only reason the guys here know about my sexuality however, is because they're all either gay, bi, or pan. They knew what I was feeling, so, they made it easier to come out to them...   
I wanted to come out. I wanted to tell them about you, believe me I did. It's just... when my mom asked me, "so Jonny, has someone in college caught your eye," I chickened out. I wanted to say, "sort of. I met this amazing guy and I've been seeing him for three months," but the words got caught in my throat. I couldn't say any of that. So I just say the only thing that I could rip out. I told her no."

I see his body start to shake has he tries to keep himself together. "I know I should have tried to explain this more, and I'm sorry I made you think that I was hiding us because of you or your work. I honestly don't care about where you work, but you're so much more than your job. I love you so much, Evan. I'm so sorry I made you think that I was embarrassed of you."

I scoot closer and wrap my arms around him, putting his head against my chest. "I'm sorry I didn't hear you out. I shouldn't have just assumed that you were hiding us because of embarrassment or... or so you can have a double life." I can't help but chuckle after saying that, and I cover my face with one of my hands. "God, hearing myself say that now... I must have sounded fucking insane."

"Well, you weren't completely wrong though." He pulls away and looks into my eyes. "Technically, I am living a secret life. When I'm back home, I'm Jonathan. The good, straight boy that loves his family, goes to church with them, always willing to help everyone around him, and was too busy trying to get good grades in high school, so he never dated... But then here, I'm..."

I can see that he's struggling to think of how to word what he wants to say next, but I stop him from saying anything else with a kiss. When I pull away, I loosely wrap my arms around his neck and finish his statement for him.

"Here, you are Jonathan. The gay boy that loves his family more than they will probably ever know, and for some reason is dating at guy that everyone would look at with disgust, purely for where I work... Honestly, I still question why you would want to be with me."

"What you do for a living doesn't change who you are... I love you for you, Evan. I'm sorry I hurt you."

"I'm sorry I was being crazy, and assuming the worse."

He and I lean back in and kiss again, wrapping our arms around each other and pulling each other close. When we pull apart, he asks me, "Did you have to work tonight?"

"No."

"Why don't you spend the night?"

I pull away a bit and raise an eyebrow at him. "You know even after everything I've said today, I'm still not going to-"

"I'm not asking for that! I'm asking because I want to spend a full day with you. I've been gone for a week, I want to spend as much time with you as I can."

I look down and bite my lip. _It really wouldn't be a bad idea... Right?_

"I guess, I don't see a reason why I couldn't stay the night."

His smile gets just a little bigger before he leans back in and kisses me again. This time however, he pushes me back so that he and I are laying on the couch, and he deepens our kiss. Meanwhile, all I do is shut my eyes, kiss him back, and enjoy every passing second of this.


	31. Luke

I let out a soft groan as I feel the bed dip and someone press their lips against the back of my neck. My groaning causes them to chuckle before they wrap their arms around my body and pull me closer.

"Wakey wakey," Jon laughs before kissing the back of my neck again.

"Five more minutes," is all I groan in return, not wanting to wake up.

I feel so tired from last night, which honestly puzzles me. I mean, it would make sense if we did anything last night to make me tired, but we really didn't do anything. Just watched movies and played some games until I fell asleep.

"Damn you're lazy," Jon laughs before he starts nibbling my neck, causing me to laugh as well.

I roll onto my back and use my forearm to push him away before I glare at him through half opened eyes. "Who do you think you're calling lazy?"

"You may not realize it, Ev, but you've been asleep for about twelve hours."

"What," I almost yell, suddenly feeling more awake.

"Yeah babe. It's ten in the morning, and you fell asleep around ten last night."

I sit up, blushing. "Oh god, I've never done this before."

"Relax babe," Jon laughs, rubbing my back. "I'm pretty sure that's just your body trying to relax after all of the stress you've been through. I mean, when was the last time you had a good night's sleep?"

I feel my heart stop and I look over to him, trying to keep my cool. "What do you mean by that?"

"What I mean is that I've noticed that you have been on edge lately. That's kind of why I actually sat down and explained my side when I realized you were still here. I figured that's why you jumped to conclusions so fast when I told you I didn't tell my mom about us. You were a lot more chill before shit started hitting the fan at your work afterall."

"We were only dating for two or three weeks before shit hit the fan at my work."

"You telling me you always get snappy when someone doesn't tell someone about you."

I blush a bit. "Well... No..."

I then feel him kiss my cheek before he turns my head towards him. "I love you, no matter what you say or do, babe. I mean, I do wish you hadn't snapped at me and accused me of hiding you because I don't care about you or because I'm embarrassed by something I knew about when I asked you out, but I like to think this could help us in the long run."

"How?"

"Well, I now know how important it is to you for us to be open about us; and that you're worried that, somehow, one day I'll be embarrassed by your job, which will never happen." He then leans back into me and kisses my cheek. "And you now know that I'm still in the closet in North Carolina."

I give him a half smile. "I guess that's true. I don't think either of those would have come up any other time."

He pulls me close again and kisses my forehead this time. "Now, come on. Let's get something to eat."

"Wait, you haven't eaten yet?"

"Nope. I literally just sat in the living room, working on some homework for my classes while I was waiting for you to wake up."

I shyly smile at him, before I crawl out of bed with him and follow him to the kitchen. I then lean against the counter, and watch as he opens his fridge and starts looking through the food he has. In the middle of him lists off everything in his fridge, we both jump as his front door opens and we hear someone yell out, "What's up, ya bitch?!"

We look over and see a tall, bearded man walk right into the apartment, kicking the door closed behind him. When he sees me however, he stops mid-step and looks over to Jon. "Ooh, I'm not cock blocking, am I?"

I quickly cover my mouth and try not to laugh as Jon turns completely to the man and slams his hands on the counter top. "I know I gave you a copy of my damn key, but have you ever heard of this thing called knocking or calling first?"

"How was I suppose to know you had your boyfriend over?! For all I know, you were beating it to-"

"Finish that sentence and I'll throw you out the window," Jon yells, his face quickly turning bright red, which causes me to burst out laughing.

The man starts laughing as well and I hear him walk closer to the island. "You were right. He does have a cute laugh."

"Luke, I swear to god."

I look up and pull myself up, pretty much holding myself up to keep me from doubling over in laughter. It's then that I see the man leaning against the counter, staring at me, smiling.

He then sticks out his hand and says, "Don't know if you remember me. Last time I saw you, you got pretty drunk. But, I'm Luke."

I give him a shy smile before I take his hand and shake it. "Nice to meet you again. Wish I could remember the last time I saw you."

"Well, judging by how much Jon talks about you, I'm going to say you'll be seeing me around a lot more often."

"Oh, so he does talk about me?"

Luke raises an eyebrow before he drops my hand and turns to Jon. "You pussied out, didn't you?"

"Shut the fuck up, Luke."

Luke shakes his head before saying, "You can't hide yourself from them forever, and you can't hide him."

"Look, we already fought about this last night. I get it; I fucked up," he groans before walking back into his fridge.

"Wait, you two fought over this last night... And you're talking to each other today?"

"Yeah," I tell him. "We talked it over last night after taking some time to cool off."

"Oh shit. This is already sounding like a better relationship than your last one."

"Shut up, Luke," Jon growls, his head still in the fridge.

"Seriously, you're dating a guy that works at a strip club. Do you think he's going to care about a broken four year long relationship?"

"Shu-fuck," he yells out as he hits his head against a shelf in the fridge.

"Something tells me I need to hear this," I laugh before turning to Luke. "So, what can you tell me about this old relationship?"

"Well, it was with a kid we met in bible study, I kid you not. Just so happened to have gone to high school with us. When Jon came out to all of us, the dude asked him out. They dated for four years, and I swear to god, they had the same fucking fight every month, and it always ended the same way. With them ignoring each other and shit talking each other for a week, and forgetting about it the next week."

"What was the fight?"

"Well, not sure if Jon told you or not, but he and I have always wanted to go into the military."

"Oh yeah, he told me when we first started dating."

"Great; that saves another fight. Anyways, if Jon and I were to go into the military, chances are extremely high that we would be stationed in another state or even another country, and that was something we were excited for. Still are."

"But my ex didn't like the idea of moving to another country," Jon finishes, leaning against the island next to me as he rubs his head.

"Bitch was a North Carolina boy like us," Luke continues. "But he was on another level. He wanted to stay there forever, grow old, have a family. You know, the boring shit. So, he and Jon fought over that shit over and over until Tyler brought up college. That was their breaking point!  
For four years, you bitches fought over you traveling the world and fighting for the country we were born in, but when college came up, that was the last straw."

"What? How," I ask.

Jon rolls his eyes and slips his arm around me. "Tyler brought up coming here for college, because he found out about all of the classes the university offered, and we found out that if we were to go to school out of state, our church would have helped us pay for some of our classes if we had high enough grades. It was only offered for students going out of state, because it's normally more expensive to go to school out of state.  
Anyways, after about three months of Tyler talking about this, slowly, everyone around me were jumping on board to do this, even Luke. However, I was still iffy on it. On one hand, this all sounded amazing and it was a opportunity that I didn't want to miss up, but on the other hand, I had my boyfriend and family back in North Carolina. I didn't want to leave all of that, so trying to decide what I was going to do next was getting to me."

"I was able to see that it was eating him up trying to figure out what he was going to do," Luke jumps back in. "So, I printed out some of the things that I was looking at in this college and bought a notebook. He and I sat down for hours looking over the college classes, the layout of the school, and things I liked about it, the scholarships we could get, and made a list of reasons he should stay and why he should leave. And it didn't change shit. He still didn't know what he should do, but at this point, I was telling him he should come with us, because he had more of a reason to go.  
The next day, he and his ex were hanging out when his ex found the notebook."

"Dear fucking god," Jon groans as he runs his hand from the top of his face to the bottom. "I still remember that damn fight. Honestly, I'm still shocked that my parents don't know that he and I were dating after that. That was no two friends arguing. Hell, the way he reacted to finding out that I was just thinking about moving here for college made the argument you and I had last night look like kids fighting over a damn game."

I shrug and kiss his cheek. "At least you made the right choice in the end."

He smiles at me before he tightens his hold on me, pulling me close in for a hug as he kisses my cheek back. "Definitely."

"So, now that you know about Jon's past relationship; why don't we hear about yours, Vanoss," Luke asks with a smirk. "I'm sure someone like you have had a lot of experience by now."

"Luke, I swear to god," Jon growls.

"Actually no," I say, shrugging my shoulders and looking directly into Luke's eyes so that he knows I'm not lying. "I haven't dated anyone before Jon."

Luke's eyes grow wide and his jaw drops. "Wait, you literally work at a strip club, where you wear nothing but panda ears, a crop top, and shorts, and you are hot as hell, and you're telling me no one has ever asked you out?!"

"No, I get asked out a lot actually."

"You what," Jon jumps in.

"The question was, have I dated before, which I haven't. Every guy that has asked me out before were all either not my type or they made it clear why they wanted to go out with me. I get hit on daily and groped every other day."

"You what?!"

"So why did you agree to go out with Jon," Luke asks, looking over to Jon, trying not to laugh.

"He wouldn't take no for an answer. Don't get me wrong, when I saw him at the party, I thought he was really cute, but I had no plans on dating. I mean, with what I do, I pretty much already know what guys want from a date with me. So, when he started hitting on me and talking to me like I was an actual person, it threw me off a bit. Then, no matter how many times I told him no, he kept asking."

"Geez, Jon, I know you thought he was hot, but I didn't know you asked him out more than once before he said yeah."

"Shut up."

"Did he say anything about me after you guys got kicked out?"

"Oh yeah he did. After Tyler was done chewing Brian's ass out for grabbing you, he turned to Jon and started yelling at him for talking to you. Saying shit like, I don't want you mother fuckers touching any of my coworkers. I don't want any of you mother fuckers hitting on them or trying to fuck them."

Jon starts laughing before he says, "Oh god, I almost forgot about that. He was seriously yelling at me as if I had tried something, when that night, all I did was talk to you."

"After he got in his car to lead us to the hotel, I asked him about you, and he started gushing about how hot you were, how nice you seemed, how tight your-"

"I will kill you if you finish that!"

I blush and try not to laugh as I watch Jon glare down Luke. "I'm not lying though! You wouldn't shut the fuck up about him until we got to the hotel room and saw Tyler and Mark trying to force Brian into the bathroom. You were even talking about going back the next time Tyler had the day off just so you could see him again."

"That's a bit creepy," I giggle. "Going to someone's work just to see them."

"Isn't that how things work in strip club though," Jon laughs, his face bright red.

"Yeah, they show up for the dancers. Not the guy giving them drink and not rubbing my ass on their laps."

Luke laughs and looks over to me. "You know, Vanoss, I like your spunk. You should come out with us tonight. We're going pub crawling."

"Well, you didn't work yesterday, so wouldn't you have to work tonight," Jon ask, looking down at me.

"Well, I was supposed to go in yesterday."

"Wait, you were?"

"Yeah, but I didn't want to leave until we talked things out, so I called out of work. I actually don't know if I work tonight or not. I should really find out." As I say the last line, I pull out my phone and write up a quick text to Panda, asking for my weekly schedule.

"Well, Tyler told me a few days ago that he would be working pretty much every night at the club for a while. He never said why though. Actually, whenever anything happens at the club he never says anything, even if we can all see that he's upset by it. Remember when he had that break down a few weeks back and all he told us was that it was due to stress?"

"Yeah I remember. I think that was around the time Evan and I started getti-Wait..." Jon pulls away and turns completely so that he's facing me. "Even, when did your friend quit the club?"

My eyes widen. Of course I know what he's talking about, but, I was hoping to not have to worry about the shit that has been happening at work by coming here, and I can already see the door that this is going to open.

"You mean Ohm, right," I ask, nonchalantly. "That was when we started dating, about three weeks in. Same day that Bryce died at the club."

"Wait, what," Luke yells. "Someone died at your club?! Why didn't Tyler tell us about this?!"

"Not just that," Jon says, looking over to Luke with a worried expression on his face. "But whenever anything happens at the club, Evan tells me everything. Someone fainted from exhaustion and someone else had an overdose there too."

"What the fuck?! Why wouldn't he tell us any of that?!"

Jon looks over to me. "You said before that there were rules at the club right?"

"Yeah, but nothing that says we can't talk to anyone about anything that happens at the club. If there was, I would know about it."

"Are you positive about that?"

"Yeah, it's required that we learn all of the rules of the club before we can work the floor. The only exception has been with Steven and Scott, and that's only because we were desperate."

Jon thinks for a second before he looks back to me. "Did something happen at the club recently? Why is Tyler going to be working more?"

I look away, feeling nervous. I didn't know how to tell them about the worst thing that has honestly happened at the club yet. More importantly, how close to death Tyler and I were as well. How am I supposed to tell them about Smitty and Marcel? How am I supposed to explain all of this without freaking them out?

"Evan," Jon say, worry laced heavily in his words. Without even looking to either him or Luke, I can feel the worried stares that they are laying on me. Like hot irons flattening me into a thin board.

I let out a heavy sigh before I say, "Something happened last week... I didn't want to tell you when it happened... Because I didn't want to ruin your trip back home."

"Evan, what happened?"

I shut my eyes and gulp down my nerves. "Something horrible."


	32. Back to Work

"So how did they take it," Ze asks as he walks to the back to pull out a box of liquor for the bar.

"As well as you could guess," I tell him as I lean against the doorframe. "They were pissed off that neither Tyler nor I told them sooner, but after an hour they calmed down."

"I'm surprised they calmed down at all," Ze says as he walks out with a box. "Mike still hates it when I text him, telling him I'm coming here."

"Oh believe me, when I was trying to leave, they didn't like it. I literally had to fight my way out of that apartment because they didn't want me to leave."

We start laughs as we take out the bottles and start stocking the bar, but soon stop when someone walks over. "Hey Evan," Tyler says loudly to get my attention. When I look over to him, I can clearly see that he's pissed. "Where the hell were you all day yesterday and today?"

I feel a knot quickly form in my throat. "What," is all I can squeeze out. 

"Where were you yesterday and today?"

My mind goes completely blank as I try to think of something to say. Any excuse. Any lie. SOMETHING! But it just stays blank. The entire time I was with Jon and Luke, I never thought of what I could tell anyone, so, this is just my punishment for not using my head yesterday.

"He was with me," Ze quickly speaks up. I look over to him in shock, and Tyler does the same. 

"What do you mean he was with you?"

"I started seeing someone, and I didn't want to meet him alone. Evan said he would go meet him with me. We went to my old apartment in the downtown area, spent the day hanging out just him and I, and then we had dinner with him and one of his friends. Then he spent the night at my old apartment with me."

"Old apartment?"

"Yeah. Before I started working for the club, I lived in a one bedroom apartment. I didn't want to break the lease, so my friends and I split the rent and hangout there whenever we're in the area. When I told Evan about it, he wanted to check it out."

Tyler then looks over to me. "Is this all true?" I nod, trying to keep a straight face. "What did the guy look like?"

"The guy Ze was meeting? Really tall, somewhat fit, black hair that was somewhat fluffy and did that weird superman thing where it curls on his forehead."

"Do you have a picture of him, Ze?"

I gulp, hoping Ze has a picture of him without him and out of uniform. Looking over, I watch as Ze just pulls out his phone, pulls up a picture, and shows it to Tyler. After a few seconds, Tyler looks between us and says, "Alright. Next time you guys decide to go out through, let us know. The last thing any of us want is for something to happen to anyone here. We already have had enough shit happen right now. We don't need another tragedy."

We nod and watch as he walks away to help get something else ready for the day. When he is out of earshot, Ze and I start laughing. 

"Holy shit," I say, trying not to be too loud. "Did you have yesterday off?!"

"I did," he laughs back. "I spent the night with Mike since he was off too!"

"Oh my god, that was just perfect! And the apartment you mentioned; that's the apartment you share with Mike, right?"

"Of course! Whenever I have a day off, I like to go back and relax in a place that feels more like home, and sleep in my own bed. It's even better when I get to couple up with my boyfriend."

"Have things been better or worse in the relationship since you started working here?"

"I'll answer that after you tell me about you spending the night at Jon's. I thought you were just seeing him."

I blush lightly and roll my eyes. "It's not like that. He and I got in our first fight yesterday, and I stayed to talk it out. Ended up staying the night after to hangout."

"Oooh, first fight. What happened?"

I laugh and push him. "You are way too into this," I say before I start restocking the bar.

"Like I said, fights are good in a healthy relationship. Plus, I told you about my first fight with Mike. Now start talking. What happened?"

"Well, while he was away, he saw his friends and family, obviously. But, he didn't tell any of them about me or about our relationship."

Ze hisses before says, "I could definitely see why you fought over that. What did he tell you that made you forgive him?"

"That he was still in the closet."

"That is a really good reason for not saying shit."

"Yeah. And judging by Luke calling him a pussy, I'm definitely going to believe him."

Ze laughs before saying, "Well, after your first fight, don't you feel just a little bit closer to him."

"Shut up," I laugh before grabbing the box and taking it to the back room. After putting it away, I walk back out and ask, "So, have you been practicing on the pole while you've been at the apartments?"

This makes Ze's smile drop a bit before he says, "I would, but Panda told me he wanted to keep me on the floor as a drink boy."

"What? Why?"

He looks away from me and groans a bit. "He said that I am doing a good job as a server and he thinks it would be better for me to stay here while he looks for more dancers. I'm also assuming he's going to look for a new  security guard as well."

As the words leave Ze's lips, I can't help but overhear another conversation coming from two dancers standing off to the side a few feet away. 

"It's such bullshit that I have to take care of so many guest a night now," Chilled complains. 

"What do you expect, Chilled," GaLm says, an annoyed tone present in his words. "We lost so many people, the new dancer was pushed into a serving position, and Lui had to cut back."

"This wouldn't be a problem though if Ohm hadn't walked out on us."

"I think we all know that. And he wouldn't have walked out if Bryce hadn't mixed his shit. Either way, that happened, and there's no changing the past. All we can do now is wait for Panda to find people to replace everyone."

"I hate to break it to you, GaLm, but I don't have time for this shit! I have finals coming up in a few weeks, and I am not about to drop my 4.0 because of this job!"

"And you wouldn't have that if it wasn't for this job! Remember that you were the one begging to get out of your dad's pizzeria! Begging me to help you find a way to afford college!"

Ze and I look at each other nervously, both now knowing that we were eavesdropping in on the same conversation. We then look back over to Chilled and GaLm, seeing them glare each other down. The tension is quickly getting thicker the longer they go back and forth. 

Tension brought up thanks to the club. 

_This is getting bad. First all of the events have caused everyone to question continuing to work here, including me; now it's destorying everyone that hasn't thought about leaving yet. I don't want to leave these guys high and dry. I don't want to cause them more stress than any of them need. Even if I have my own problems with the club, it doesn't change the fact that these guys here are like family. There has to be something, anything I could do to help? I just want to see everyone happy again._

"Will you two shut up?!" 

We jump when we hear the third person yelling at the two. Before I can look to see who the voice came from, I see someone speed walking over to the two dancers and step between them. I'm a bit shocked to see that the person that stepped between them was Scotty. _But then again, I haven't gotten to know him yet. Has he always been type to do this?_

"Look, no one likes how things are right now, but fighting isn't going to solve anything." He then wraps an arm around Chilled and says, "If you guys want things to change, there's only one thing we can do to change them. We need to push for those changes."

"What do you mean," Chilled asks. 

"Well, you're a college student. You telling me none of the guys at your college are starting to get desperate."

"It's almost the end of the year though," GaLm says. "Wouldn't now be the worst time for us to go to the school, trying to find people."

"Let me ask you this? How many people at your school live in state? How many leave to see their family? How many have part time jobs?  
You don't even have to talk to anyone. Just find a way into the dorm rooms and put up a couple note cards saying the club is hiring, and that you can leave each night with a shit ton of money. I can promise you, a lot of people will bite."

"That's disgusting," I suddenly hear Ze say. I look over and see him shaking his head at the group. "Trying to take advantage of kids that are trying tough make something of themselves is disgusting."

"Aren't you a college student too," I ask, a bit confused by what he means. 

His eyes get big for a second before he sighs, "That's not what I mean. If a college student goes out looking for the job, that's one thing. But going to where they are, sneaking advertisement when someone is just trying to get through school. That's just wrong."

"How did you find the job?"

"Normally, clubs like this don't advertise when they're looking. Normally, it's words of mouth, or wondering through and you learn then and there that they are hiring. I found out you guys were hiring because of Mike. He told me that you guys had just lost two dancers, so I sent in my application... And then got in a fight with Mike after I got my first interview because I hadn't told him I was applying."

I laugh, "What did you think was going to happen?"

"Hey, to be fair, when I saw that you needed to send a picture of yourself with the application, I instantly thought I wasn't going to get the job. I mean, look at everyone. Hell, just look at you. I don't have the body to be here, but, for some reason Panda gave me a chance."

I smile a little before I look away. "Well, maybe having someone that doesn't look like everyone else is exactly what the club needs. I mean, it's not like you're fat. You're a healthy weight."

He laughs. "I'm a good enough weight to be a cop."

"Really?"

"Have you seen some police officers out here? I can easily out run them in a chase."

I laugh and shake my head, thinking of our regular officers that come in from time to time. If I were to see some of them in their street clothes, I never in a million years would have seen them as cops. However, maybe that's a good thing. Who knows what they can do as long as no one knows who they are. 

"Alright everyone," we hear Panda yell out from the stage. 

We all start making our way over to the stage, lining up, ready for our orders for the day. As Panda told us how the night would go, I look over to the dancers and see Brock staring down at his hands. He looks so defeated that it hurts. 

I want to walk over to him and give him a hug, but I don't know if I should. I don't know what to say or giving him a hug would be enough for him. However, when Panda calls the meeting to a close, I decide to just do what I felt was needed. 

I wait for him to walk closer to me, his eyes still on the ground, and when he is a few steps away, I walk up to him and wrap my arms around his chest, stopping him in his place. I tighten my hug to let him know that everything will be okay, and I think he got the message. Before I let go, he gives me a little hug back, before whispering, "Thank you," in my ear. 

When we let go of each other, I instantly start walking over to the bar to wait with Ze and the other two waiters. As I start walking away, I look over my shoulder to see how Brock is doing, and see Panda walk over to him. I see him put a hand on Brock's shoulder, patting him a couple times before he starts walking them over to the back.

_I wonder what they're talking about? Panda has known him for much longer than I have, so maybe he knows just what to tell him to make him feel better. If he does, I hope whatever he tells him will make him just a little bit happier._


	33. Officer

"Did you work tomorrow," Jon asks as he looks down at me.

Him and I are watching a movie at his apartment, and I'm curled up next to him with my head on his shoulder. Unfortunately, Ze had to work tonight while I had tonight off, so I won't be able to spend the night. To make it even better, I am actually suppose to work tomorrow. However, I do know that one of the other waiters owes me for a lot of covered shifts, so with that over their head, "I don't have to. Why?"

"Well, it's almost the end of November, and I was thinking, maybe we could go to the mall together."

I pull away from him a bit and raise an eyebrow at him. "Exactly how do those mix together?"

"What do you think? Hello? Christmas is literally a month away."

"Oh," I say, feeling my face heat up. "Right. I knew that."

"Evan, what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Seriously? Evan, just tell me what's wrong. Do you not celebrate Christmas? You celebrate a different winter holiday?"

I look away, shyly, before I say, "No, it's not that... I- Well... I haven't really celebrated Christmas since I was a kid."

"What do you mean?"

I sigh and think of the best way to put this without telling him about my past. As much as I love him, and I want to be with him and be honest with him, telling him about the worst of my parents isn't something I really want to do. The longer he doesn't know, the better.

"When I was ten, my dad lost his job. That year was the first year I spent without celebrating any holiday, and it has really changed ever since. The only holidays I've celebrated since I left my parents house are Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July. Any other holiday, I don't do shit."

"I thought you guys did something for Christmas though. At least, that's what Tyler said."

I chuckle. "Oh yeah, we meet at the club, do a few shows before we close early, and then we all have a meal together. Just like Thanksgiving. Not only that, but it isn't a Christmas thing. Its a winter holiday thing. We also wrap New Years in with that so no one asks for the day off."

"Well, what about the employees? Don't you guys trade gifts or something?"

"Why would we do that," I ask with a light chuckle. "We make more in a week than what most people make in a month. If we want something, we can get it whenever we want."

He looks at me, confused for a minute, before he asks, "Then why are you stressed about moving out and quitting your job?"

"Because I know that it's going to cost a lot for me to get out of there. Plus," I pause as Brock's words from last week play through my mind. His experience at the hospital, what he said about trying to get a job outside of the club... "Plus, it's going to be difficult for me to get another job. Once you're in the sex industry, it's hard to break out. Not to mention college. It's just-"

"Evan," Jon says, stopping me. "You're over thinking this. Yes, you're going to have to work hard at finding a job, and yeah, it's hard to break away from the sex industry once you're in it, but it isn't impossible."

He grabs the back of my head and pulls me close to him so he could kiss my forehead. "Knowing you, I'm sure you'll be able to get out. I'm not going to push for when you make that move. I just want you to do it. I can tell that everything is dragging you down, and I want to see you happy."

I smile and lean up, kiss him and wrapping my arms around his neck. As he kisses me back, he starts to run his hands up and down my body before he pulls me on top of him. I can't help but moan as he does this, knowing what he wants to do. As we continue to kiss, he slowly turns so that I'm facing away from the couch before he slowly lays me down on my back and gets in between my legs. His hands quickly make their way to my thighs and he starts rubbing them before he pulls away.

He sits up a bit, looking me up and down before he licks his lips and hums. "I swear to god," he says as he starts rubbing my thighs again. "I just can't get enough of this sight. You, under me."

He leans back down and looks straight into my eyes, lust already starting to cloud his beautiful blue eyes. "Only thing that could make that sight better is a little more skin."

I blush and push him away a bit. "Don't ruin the mood, you jerk."

His chuckles before he comes back to me and starts kissing me, slipping his tongue into my mouth. I wrap my arms around his neck and moan as he continues to rub my thighs, going a little farther down so that he's also rubbing my ass.

When we break our kiss, he looks into my eyes before giving me small kiss on the tip of my nose and my forehead. Then, he lowers his head and starts to suck on my neck, making me moan. His hands make their way up my body and soon I feel one go around my body, just under my shoulders, and the other pulls one of my arms off of him and he lays it next to us before he intertwines our fingers. I wrap my legs around him and soon feel him start to move, grinding into me.

However, that's where our fun has to end. Just as we are getting started, my phone alarm goes off, which I have set to make sure that I have time to get home before any of the guys.

The sound of the alarm makes Jon groan before he sits up, digging his hand into my pocket, pulling out my phone, and throwing it onto the other side of the couch. "Shut up," he jokingly yells at it before he tries to lean back in for another kiss.

I, however, push him back. "Jon, I need to go."

He sighs and pulls away before helping me stand up. He and I start grabbing my things before he walks me out of his apartment, all the way down to my car. Once there, he and I take a few more minutes to say goodbye before I get into my car, and he watches me drive out.

As I drive back to the apartments, my mind continuously makes it way back to Jon. The more I think of him, the more happy and guilty I feel.

I honestly love him, and want to be with him. I want to change for the better for him, and knowing that he's there to support me has been motivating. In fact, thanks to him pushing for me to go back to school and giving me a bit of company while I do my school work, I was able to take my finals for all of my classes yesterday. If I passed, which I know I did, I will be completely done with my freshman year. When I'm with him, he makes me feel like I can be myself. He makes me feel as if I can do anything, and all the things that I'm afraid of don't matter. All the things all of us at the club are afraid of don't matter.

However, I'm still lying to him. He still doesn't know about my past, he still doesn't know about my age. He could get in a lot of trouble if the wrong person saw us, and in a way, I'm being selfish by lying to him.

Every time I see him, him and I are always so close to each other. We're always kissing, and every day, it gets more and more heated. I love it, and I hate it... All because I love him, and want him.

Every heated kiss, I feel like I'm risking losing him, and without him even knowing it, he is getting closer and closer to losing everything, and he doesn't even know it.

_I'm being so selfish... But I don't want to lose him. How can I tell him the truth and keep him? How can I tell him that I lied to him without having him hate me? How can I come clean when there's a police car behind me and I risk losing- wait what?_

My head snaps to the rearview mirror just seconds before the red and blue lights start flashing, making my heart skip a beat. It completely stops however after I look down to my dash and I see that I'm going fifteen over the speed limit.

"Fuck," I whisper out loud before I start slowing down, pulling over to the side of the road. My heart feels as if it's about to explode, fear has turned my blood cold, and I feel like I'm sweating. I feel sick.

I've never been pulled over before, so honestly, I'm not sure how well my fake ID is going to work. All I know now is that I'm fucked.

When I pulled over and come to a complete stop, I stare at my side mirror and watch as a dark figure steps out of the car. The street we're on isn't the best lit, so I'm more or less relying on the light from his car, which isn't doing much for us.

I see him turn on a flashlight as he walks over to the side of my car and he knocks on the window. With a gulp, I roll down the window and squint my eyes as the flashlight somewhat blinds me.

"License and regi- wait, Vanoss?"

My eyes widen when I hear the voice and I quickly turn on the light from the inside of my car, confirming what I had thought. "Officer Nova? Holy shit! I wasn't expecting to run into you tonight!"

"It's a small world," he says, leaning against the car, a little more relaxed. "What are you doing out here right now?"

"I was just seeing a friend," I tell him, knowing that he's one of many people that can't see me with Jonathan. "I was just heading home right now."

"You know you were going a little fast, right?"

"I know. I got a bit distracted, and didn't know how fast I was going until I realized you were behind me."

"Well, I'll be nice this time and give you a warning." He then puts his hand into my car and slipped it under my chin to keep me looking at him. He then leaned down so that he would be at my level. "You just be a good boy and don't let me catch you doing this again."

I freeze up with his touch and instantly feel the same way Brock must have felt at the hospital. If James was doing this at the club, I would slap his hand away and walk away from him, knowing that the guys would have my back. However, we're on the streets, and he's on the job. Slapping his hand away would be assaulting a officer. He is in control, and he knows it. I can see it in his eyes that are starting to get a little clouded.

"Y-yes officer. It won't happen again."

"Good boy. You want me to make sure you get home safely," he then asks, sliding his hand from under my chin to the side of my face, running his fingers against my cheek.

I pull my face away and quickly turn off the light. "No, sir. I'll be fine on my own. I promise, no more speeding, and I'll pay attention this time."

"Alright, I'll be keeping an eye on you. You better be careful this time," he tells me before he stands up and walks back to his car.

The second he starts walking away, I quickly roll up my window and stare at him through my side mirror. I sit in silence, watching as he walks back over to his car and gets in. I then turn my attention to the rear view mirror and watch, waiting for him to pull away... But he doesn't. He just sits in his car, possibly waiting for me to move.

Tears start to build up in my eyes as fear takes over. _What's stopping him from getting out and "arresting" me? What's stopping him from doing whatever he wants? The law is on his side, and I have too much to hide to risk it all by fighting back._

Without taking my eyes off of the mirror, I reach into my pocket and grab my phone. I look away for a second to dial Brock's number and put the phone to my ear. When I look back up, I can still see him sitting in his car behind me. My heart is beating so hard that I can feel it trying to break my rib cage, trying to get out.

The phone rings for what feels like forever, but eventually goes to voicemail. I scream into my hand, trying to stay silent as I watch the still car in behind me, just wanting him to drive around me and leave. There's no one else on the road, so he could easily do just that... But he isn't. He wants me to drive off first. But why?!

I hang up the phone and try calling Brock again, silently begging for him to answer. After some more time, I get nothing again. Tear are running down my face at this point.

I hang up again and try dialing Ze's number, hoping he would answer. However, just before I can press call, my phone starts buzzing as Brock calls me back. I quickly answer the call and bring the phone to my ear.

"Moo, help," I whisper for some reason. My eyes stay locked on the rearview mirror.

"Evan, what's wrong?"

"I was driving home, but I was speeding by accident. I got pulled over by Officer Nova."

"You did everything he asked, right?"

"He didn't ask me for anything! Once he realized that it was me, he told me he was going to be nice and let me off with a warning. Then he kept calling me a "good boy" and he put his hand under my chin and on the side of my face! Then he asked me if I wanted him to make sure I got back safe, and I said no! He then walked back to his car and he won't move! I've been sitting here for five minutes, I don't know! I've been here for a while, and he won't move!"

"Shit, okay, Evan, I'm going to try to help you, but I need you to trust me right now!"

"That's why I called you."

"Okay, now, I need you to hang up the phone with me."

"What?!"

"Just trust me, Evan. I'm going to do something, but I can't do anything with you on the line with me. So please, hang up the phone. When you do, close your eyes and count to a hundred. If when you open your eyes, you can still see him there, then start driving to the club and don't get out. Wait for all of us to come out and drive back to the apartments with us as a group. If he isn't, then drive straight home, run to your apartment, and lock the door. I'll go straight over as soon as I get home, okay?"

I gulp, feeling more scared than I ever thought I would be. However, I know that I have no choice. I called Brock for a reason, and I need to trust him. "Okay," is the last thing I say before I hang up the phone. I then put it in my pocket and put my hands on the steering wheel, pressing my forehead against the top of it and taking a deep breath before shutting my eyes. I then start to count.

_One... Two... Three... Four... Five... Six... Seven..._

After a while, I count to a hundred and lift my head, opening my eyes as I do so. My heart still feels like it's trying to escape my body, however, I need to know what is going to happen next. Taking another deep breath, I look to the rearview mirror and let out the biggest sigh of relief. He finally left.

As soon as I see that, I put my car into drive and instantly drive back onto the empty road, making my way back to the apartment. The second I pull up to them, I grab my things, turn the car off, and jump out. I don't waste a second. As soon as my feet connect to the ground, I slam the door to my car shut and start running to my apartment. As I run, I try to lock the car door; honestly, I don't even know if it locked or not. I just want to get somewhere where I can feel safe.

When I get to the door, I shove my key into the door and try to unlock it as fast as my shaking hands would let me. Once I get it unlock, I rip them out of the door, run into my apartment, and slam the door shut, locking it up and falling to the floor. I instantly curl up into a ball on the floor and start crying.

This isn't the first time James had done that shit to me, but it was always at the club. I always had people around me. I felt safe. I thought it was all harmless and that he was only doing that shit to me because he was drunk. He only ever touched me when he was drunk...

But now... He literally could have done anything to me. Nothing would have stopped him.

He knows about my age. He knows about my past. He knows that I couldn't go to the police because then I would put everyone at the club at risk. He knows I wouldn't do that.

Time past so slowly, but I didn't move a muscle. I stayed in my little ball on the floor, not even caring if the apartment was pitch black. That didn't scary me. The darkness didn't scare me. What scared me was the fact that someone I have seen so often had no problem putting his hands on me without my permission.

I jump out of my ball when I hear a knock at my door, and I unintentionally scream out of fear.

"Evan, it's me! Open the door," Brock yells through the door.

For the first time in a while, I jump onto my feet and quickly unlock the door. As soon as it opens, Brock rushes in and turns on the light. I slam the door shut again and lock it back up before I turn around to look at Brock.

He walks up to me and puts his hands on my shoulders before he starts looking around my face. "Did he hurt you? Did he touch you anywhere else other then your face?"

I just shake my head and keep my eyes locked on him. After a second of silence, he pulls me in for a tight, protective hug, that makes me feel safe. Not the same safe as a tight hug from Jon, but a type of safe that a hug from a parent feels. And the second I feel his arms wrap around me, I start crying again.

I now am seeing more of what Brock was trying to keep me away from. Why he didn't want me to be here for as long as I have. But I was stupid. I stayed for way too long, and now am seeing everything that decision has cost me. I've seen friends die, friends get hurt, friends leave, and friends crashed in many ways. Now, I'm facing one thing that only Brock told me about... _I should have gotten out of here a long time ago._


	34. Christmas Shopping

My phone buzzes loudly on my nightstand as someone calls me to wake me up. Only two people come to mind as to who would call me, and honestly, I feel like it would actually be for the best for me to talk to them, even if only one of them knows what's going on.

Picking up my phone, I look at the screen through squinted eyes and see Brock's name. I answer the call and roll onto my back before I put the phone to my ear. "Hello?"

"Did you just wake up?"

"It's been a long night."

"I know, and that's what worries me. I don't want you to try to lock yourself away. You need to get out of your apartment for a little bit."

"I was going to see Jon later tonight. He has class today."

"I still don't want you to mope around in your room."

"Brock-"

"I already spoke to Ze. He said he needed to do something, and he offered to take you with him."

I groan and roll over, pushing myself up, so that I could sit on the edge of my bed. "I'm not a kid, you know. I don't need you to make play dates for me and my friends."

"I know, but I don't want you to sit around, thinking about what had happened to you last night. As hard as it is, you need to push that to the back of your mind. That's something I've noticed you have a huge problem with. So, go out and do something. Anything to take your mind off of what James did."

I sigh and stay silent for a bit, trying to get as much of my mind and my engery together. Then, I stand up and ask, "When was Ze leaving?"

I hear some light mutters in the background, and after a few seconds, Brock comes back and says, "He says he'll be over in an hour."

"Alright... Thank you." I then hang up and drop my phone back on my nightstand before I walk over to my bathroom, stripping off my clothes as I walk.

Turning on the water, I turn away from the shower to give it some time to warm up, and I look at myself in the mirror. My eyes are still bloodshot from crying most of the night. I feel like I look paler than normal, which makes me wonder if I'm still in shock from what happened.

_All he did was grab my face... Am I overreacting? I mean, he didn't pin me down, point his gun at me, or force me to do anything. He just... grabbed my face..._

Letting out a heavy sigh, I shake my head. "I'm so fucking stupid. Just because he could have done anything, doesn't mean he was going to do anything or that he would. I freaked myself out. I scared myself, and overreacted to him flirting with me."

I turn back to the shower and step in, feeling the hot water pour onto me. And I just stand under that water for a good minute before I start actually cleaning myself.

Once I was done, I turned off the water, dried myself off, and walked back to my bedroom, picking out clothes to wear for the day and just throwing it on. Then, I walked into my living room and just laid on the couch, staring up to the ceiling.

_I was overreacting... I am overreacting. Over thinking everything. Freaking myself out. I have no proof that James would have done anything, and he had the chance to do whatever he wanted... **I'm just overreacting to nothing**_

_"Don't think that."_

I gasp and sit up a little to fast, making me light headed. However, when I lay back down, I instantly start looking around my apartment.

_I know that voice._

_"Never think like that. You were only trying to keep yourself safe, which you did. No matter what, no one, man or woman, can put their hands on you without your permission. So don't think you were overreacting. You did nothing wrong."_

_No way... Mom?_

Wanting to make sure I didn't pass out, I pinch my arm to see if it hurt, which it does. Meaning I'm not dreaming.

"Am I drunk or high or what the fuck," I whisper into the empty room.

Seconds after the words leave my lips, I hear a sudden knock at the door, scaring me and causing me to fall off of the couch. With a little groan, I pick myself up and walk into my bedroom, grabbing my wallet, keys, and phone before I walk over to the door.

After shoving my phone and wallet into my pockets, I open the door, seeing Ze standing in front of me with a little smile on his face. "Hey buddy, how you feeling?"

"I've been better," I say, a little smile forming on my face.

After locking my door, I follow Ze to his car in the parking lot, jump in, and look out the window while he starts the drive. He and I stay silent for a bit; however, he eventually breaks it.

"So, what happened last night?"

"What did Brock tell you?"

"Okay, uh, he told me that you got pulled over last night and the officer that did it knew who you were and scared you in a way. He didn't go into detail about it though."

I sigh and keep my eyes on the window. "Well, there's a cop that goes to the club a lot. He's normally one of my regulars. And when he gets drunk, he normally took things too far and he would try to grab me. Normally I would smack his hands away, cut him off, and move on. Nothing serious.   
Well, last night, I wasn't really paying attention and I was speeding. He pulled me over, gave me a warning, and then... Then he got weird, and he made me really uncontrollable."

"What do you mean? What happened?"

I take a deep breath before saying, "He reached into my car and put his hand under my chin and ran his finger on my cheek. And, he kept calling me a good boy, and offered to make sure I got home safely."

"He what?!"

"I don't know. I mean, he didn't do anything else to me. Maybe I was just overreacting."

"No, Evan, you weren't."

I look over to Ze and quickly notice his face is scrunched up in anger, and his hands are turning white with how tightly he's gripping the steering wheel. "Did you say he could touch you like that?"

"No."

"Then he shouldn't have touched you. Face, shoulder, whatever. At the club, that's one thing. But if he was on the job and he pulled you over, he would have no reason to touch you unless he needed to search you or arrest you. End of story.  
As for offering to make sure you got home safely, I'm calling bullshit. Not after he touched you like that."

I blink and stare at him in shock.

"What was the name of the bastard?"

"Uh, Officer James Nova."

"James Nova... I'm going to talk to Mike about this bastard tonight."

"Steven, you don't need to. I'm fin-"

"Evan," he stops me, looking over to me through the corner of his eye. The look in his eye is different, but familiar. It's the same look he had in his eyes when I had my panic attack at the club. "What he did was wrong, stupid, and a abuse of his power. He knew you would be afraid of him because of his job, and he was hoping you would be dumb enough to let your guard down. Whatever he had planned for you was not good."

I stare at Ze in shock for a good minute, not saying a word. Not even knowing what to say. Finally, after a bit, I ask, "What's going to happen to him?"

"I don't know. Hopefully he'll be fired, but I can't promise anything. It's going to be a case of, wait and see."

Slowly, I pull myself away from the trance Ze's gaze had caught me in and I turn back to the window I had been looking out of. After a few seconds of silence, I finally ask something I'm surprised I didn't ask sooner.

"Hey, where are we going?"

I hear Ze chuckle a bit before he says, "Well, Christmas is coming up soon, and before I started with the club, I ordered a little something for Mike. I just got a call today saying that it came in."

"What did you get him? A gun?"

He laughs, "What? You think just because he's a cop, he is obsessed with guns? Nah, he's a big fucking nerd. He loves Fallout more than he loves me, so I got him a little Bluetooth Pip-Boy."

I laugh and look down to my lap. "You know, I haven't celebrated Christmas in years."

"Really?"

I nod. "When I was ten, my dad lost his job, and we had to give up Christmas in order to pay off the house. After that, we never celebrated it again. When I came to the club, no one really celebrated it. Instead, everyone that stays will meet up at the club and have dinner."

"Sounds kind of boring, no offense."

I continue to look down at my lap for a few more minutes before I turn and look up to Ze. "Jon said he wanted to do something for Christmas with me. But, honestly-"

"You have no idea what you're doing," he finishes and laughs. "Well, I would love to help you, but honestly, I can only tell you two things that should help you when shopping. Number one, make it personal. Christmas shopping is not just finding the most trendy thing on the market and giving it to whoever. I mean, unless that's what they're into.  
Anyways, take what I am doing now as an example. Since I know Mike is a Fallout fanboy, when I heard about this Fallout thing, I ordered it for him, because I know he will love it.   
So when you go shopping for Jon, focus on what you know he likes, and look for something that you think he will like. Or, you can go for a more person thing. Last year, Mike bought us promise rings, saying he wasn't ready to marry me, but that he knew he would one day."

"Awe," I say, accidentally out loud, causing Ze's face to turn red.

"A-anyways. The next thing to keep in mind is how much you spend on it. You don't want to drop a shit ton on what you buy him, but you do want to spend some money on it."

"Alright..."

"You still don't know what to do, do you?"

"No!" I cover my face with my hands and groan loudly.

He laughs at me again before I feel the car stop. Pulling my hands away, I look out the window and see that we're now in a parking lot. "Well, while we're here, we'll look around and see what we can find. I'm sure there's something here that he'll like."

I nod and jump out of the car with him before we start walking towards the mall. As we continued to talk, I really start to feel more relaxed and start pushing everything to the back of my mind. Before we even walk into the mall, I actually feel like I'm myself again. Even for just a second.

After walking around for a bit, we get to the store that Ze placed his order with. When we see the large crowd in the store however, we agree to split up. He then goes into the store, pushing and shove, and I swear at one point punching, while I walk two feet to the left and sit down on a bench.

Letting out a soft sigh, I start looking around at the shops around me, trying to get some sort of idea of what I can get for Jon. _Something personal?... What could I get him? What do I know about him?_

I'm suddenly ripped out of my thoughts however when I hear a loud gasp from behind me, scaring the shit out of me, and causing me to jump off of the bench. Spinning around, I look to see what had happened, however, I'm more shocked to see someone that was looking the opposite way of me.

"Luke?"

Jon's friend spins around and I see his eyes widen for a moment when he sees me. "Evan? What are you doing here?"

"I'm shopping with a friend; what are you doing here?"

"Uh, I was meeting a friend. They're just, uh, running late." He walks around the bench and stops right in front of me. "It's weird seeing you without Jon putting his hands all over you."

I shrug and cross my arms. "When he has class, it's not really a choice."

He laughs, "You got a point there. Well, who are you with?"

"A co-worker and friend of mine named Steven, or Ze." I then point towards the crowded store with my thumb before I say, "He's fighting his way in there. He ordered something for his boyfriend and it came in today."

"Well now if that isn't love, I don't know what is."

I laugh and look down, thinking for a second before an idea hits me. "Hey, do you mind helping me out a little bit. While I'm here, I was looking for something I could get for Jon, but I'm not too sure what I should get. You're his best friend, so, you would know what he would like, right?"

"Yes I would, but, you've been saying no to what he would really like," he tells me with a wink.

I instantly feel my face heat up as I throw my head back. "You telling me that I'm dating a boring son of a bitch, who's only hobby is having sex?"

Luke laughs at my comments before he says, "Nah. He also likes video games, horror movies, and teddy bears."

"Teddy bears?"

"Yeah, I don't know either. He just really likes them." We suddenly hear his phone start to ring in his pocket, which he pulls out right away and holds it to his ear. "Hey, are you here yet?... Alright, I'll be there in a few."

He then hangs up his phone and turns back to me. "My friend just got here, so I need to go. But, good luck with your shopping. Hope you find something."

I then wave and watch as he starts walking towards one of the many entrances to the mall, leaving me where he found me. Keeping what he told me in mind, I pull out my phone and sit back down on the bench, scrolling through several different sites, taking a look at the weird things that people are selling. However, at one page I stop and stare at the images in front of me.

_I suddenly know what I can get him for Christmas!_

"Hey, watch it!" My head snaps up in time to see Ze holding a bag close to his chest as he tries to pull his lower body out from the crowd. After I quickly put my phone in my pocket and run over to help Ze, so we can go to where I need to go.

**

Taking a deep breath, I knock a couple times on the door and take a step back. My heart beats heavily in my chest as I start to think about what I can actually say. However, before I can actually decide, the door opens, and in front of me is a very tired looking Brock.

"Evan? I thought you were going to spend the day with Jonathan?"

"I am; he actually gets out of class in a few minutes, so I'm going to start heading over right after he gets out... Why did you push for me to hang out with Ze today?"

"Because you needed someone to spend some time with, and I didn't want you to sit around doing nothing but feeling like shit all day."

"But why didn't you want to spend time with me? Even back when Ohm left and Bryce died, you didn't offer to come over. You pushed for me to hang out with Smitty. Why? Why do you do that?"

He leans against the doorframe and starts rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, I know that you don't really like me all that much, and I know that we aren't really that close. You trust me enough to call me when you need the help, and I will never take advantage of that. However, I know I'm not really your friend. And, I'm okay with that. All I care about however is making sure that you get out of here."

"Get out of here? But didn't you-"

He quickly looks away from me before letting out a disappointed sigh. "Didn't you say you wanted out? If you want to leave, I'm not going to stop you. I just think it's a waste now, and I'll just hope I don't see you struggling again." He then looks back at me and says, "Also doesn't change the fact that I don't want to see you in pain or any trouble. It's bad enough that you could be stuck here, the last thing I want is for you to feel, well, like you're being swallowed alive. Because once you feel like that... I don't want to think about that."

He and I stay silent for a bit after he said that. Honestly, I truly don't know what to say back to this. However, what I do know, is that I need to hug him. So that's what I do. I walk right up to him and I hug him, tightly. When I feel him start to high me back, I then whisper out, "Thank you. Thank you for everything... Thank you for being there for me... I'm sorry I was such an ass before."

"Evan, you-"

"Don't say I wasn't, because I was." I then pull away and look up to him. "You have always been nice to me and have been trying to help me out so much without dragging me back to my parents. And in return, I might as well have slammed the door in your face... I'm really sorry for how I acted before. And thank you, for not giving up on me."

He smiles down at me before he gives me a little kiss on the forehead before pulling me in for another tight hug. After a little bit, we let go of each other and I end up having to leave. Jon was calling to let me know he was out of class, and right now, I need my boyfriend more than ever.

_Well, maybe not that much. But I definitely wouldn't mind having him around right now for a little more support._


	35. Gift Exchange

**  
_"Hey Ev, you busy?"_  
**

**_"Hey Del, I'm at work, but I can talk. What's up?"_ **

**_"Think I can see you tonight? My parents called me and asked me to come home for Christmas break. I won't be back until after New Years."_ **

**_"Awe, so I'm not going to get to spend New Years with you?"_ **

**_"Please tell me you guys don't do anything for New Years at the club."_ **

**_"Nothing really. We just get together and fuck until midnight."_ **

**_"Haha-haha, fuck you. But seriously?"_ **

**_"Seriously, we don't do anything. Against the rulses for employees to date or hook up."_ **

**_"Okay. Anyways, tonight, you think you can come over? Maybe spend the night?"_ **

**_"I can't promise to spend the night, but if you give me an hour after I get off work, I can definitely be there."_ **

**_"Great! Did you want me to make you something for dinner too?"_ **

**_"You really don't need to do that."_ **

**_"So yes, got it. I love you, baby."_ **

**_"I love you too, babe."_ **

"Awe, so this is what you've been doing all night," Ze laughs as he reads my texts. "You were planning a little date."

"I swear to god, Ze! Give me back my phone," I yell before I jump over the couch to try to get my phone back from him.

It's a slow day at work, so I spent a good chunk of my night both working on my classes for school and texting Jon. However, everyone noticed this. Scotty and Tyler started hovering over me to see what I was doing, which quickly started to annoy me. So, I dumped my tables on one of the other servers while I hid in the VIP room. The room is soundproofed, so it helped me get more into my work; however, this had quickly turned into a bad thing. I somehow didn't hear the door open or anyone walking up behind me. And because of that, when I switched over to text Jon, the second I sent the text, someone ripped my phone out of my hands.

As thankful as I am that it was Ze and not Tyler or any of the guys that don't know about Jon, when he started scrolling through, reading my texts, I couldn't help but feel embarrassed. It's not like there's anything to actually be embarrassed about, but still.

Anyways, after I jump over the couch to try to grab my phone, Ze quickly backs away, before he jumps over the couch so that he would be on the other side. This started a game of me chasing him around the VIP room, which quickly gets annoying after about five minutes. Eventually, I get him backed into a corner, and I'm only a few feet away from him.

When I start to step towards him, the door to the room opens again, and someone walks in. Ze smirks before he throws my phone to the person, and yells out, "Chilly Willy! Catch!"

I turn around just in time to see the phone reach Chilled, who tries to catch it. However, I watch in horror as he starts to juggle the phone, trying to get a hold of it, but failing horribly. I quickly run over and jump to the ground, sliding on my stomach as he misses the phone a final time, causing it to fall into my hands.

I sigh and groan as I push myself up to my knees and look down at my stomach and see that it's red. "Oh god," Chilled gasps before he kneels down to my level. "That looks really bad."

"It's just rug burn," Ze replies, walking over to us. "It'll go down in a few minutes if you ice it."

"Guess I'm lucky that we're in here then," I say before I stand up and walk over to the bar. I open the cooler that we kept in the room and pull out some ice. I then start to rub it on my stomach as I lean against the bar, sighing in relief as the stinging pain starts to go down as well.

"So, why did you come in here, Chilly Willy," Ze asks.

I look up and see Chilled look away from Ze, his face turning a light shade of pink. "Well, I wanted to know if you were busy tomorrow afternoon. I was thinking, maybe we could get lunch and go check out a movie or something."

"That sounds like it would be a lot of fun. Would GaLm be joining us?"

"Well, no. It would be just you and me."

Ze's face falls once he realizes what's happening. "... Wait, Chilled, are you asking me on a date?"

"Well... Yeah. Getting to know you has been amazing, and I know it's against the rules for us to be dating, but I would quit if I need to just to get to spend a day with you as more than a friend."

I cover my mouth and stare at the two in shock. My heart starts to break for Chilled because I know Ze. I know how much he loves Mike, and I know that he would never beat around the bush. So it hurts me and doesn't surprise me when Ze takes a step back and shakes his head.

"Anthony, I'm sorry, but no."

"Come on, Steven. I know that it's risky, but no one has to know. I mean, expect for Vanoss, but he wouldn't say anything."

"No, Anthony, it's not that... I already have a boyfriend."

I watch as Chilled's eyes grow wide and now he starts to back away. "Oh, well, that makes sense. I mean, you're amazing, why wouldn't you already have a boyfriend."

"Anthony-"

"It's fine. Let's just, forget I ever said anything. Forget I was ever here today. I'll see you around, buddy."

He then quickly turns away and runs out of the room, shutting the door behind him. Ze and I stay silent for a moment before he sighs and walks over to join me at the bar. "Well, that could have gone a lot better."

"Did you have any idea Chilled was into you?"

"Well, I noticed that he flirted with me a lot, but I know straight guys that hit on each other without it meaning anything."

"Wait, so, you thought Chilled was straight?"

"He told me about ex-girlfriends and never told me he was into guys! How was I supposed to know that he anything but girls?!"

"The fact that he works at a gay strip club?"

"Fair point." He sighs again. "I just feel bad now."

"There's nothing you can say to change what happened, Ze. Just try to keep being friends if he's up for it."

"I know. So," he then says, looking up to me with a smirk. "You're going to see Jon tonight?"

"Fuck you."

"Well, I can at least help you cover for the night."

"I love you, what's the plan?"

He smiles and says, "I'll let Tyler know that I'm upset by having to turn down a friend, and I need to be away from the apartments for a night, but I don't want to be alone."

"Thank you so much," I say as I pull out my phone to text Jon.

"Did you get the last few pieces of his present?"

"Just got them in this morning, actually!"

"You need to show me what he got you."

I stop typing halfway through the text and feel my stomach start to twist. "What if he got me something really sweet and romantic?" Putting the phone down, I look up at him. "Is what I got him too cheesy? Is it stupid?"

Before I can say anything else or even react, he reaches over to me and flicks my forehead. "Stop that. You're only going to freak yourself out. Just relax, take a deep breath, and finish your text. We have another hour of work before we can leave, and you are going to Jon's apartment and give him your present. And you know what, he will love it."

"How do you know that though?"

"Because you went off looking for something just for him. The point of Christmas isn't who gave the best present, it's about being with the people you care about. Some people don't even trade gifts, because just being with the people you care about is enough for them.  
But, the way I see the trading gifts thing is, by trading these gifts, it's only showing how much you care for each other based off of what you did. For example, you went out and found him something that you know he likes and improved it with more things that he likes. So don't think that he'll be disappointed. What you got him is amazing just based off of the effort alone."

I sigh and thank him before I watch him leave the room, saying that he's going to go talk to Tyler. Once he leaves, I walk over to the couch and sit back down, finishing my text and sending it to Jon.

The final hour of work felt like it was moving at a sluggish pace. However, when it finally ends, I quickly run out, help clean up, change, and take off for the apartments. Once there, I grab what I need, wait for Ze out in the parking lot, and he and I quickly drive off.

When I get to Jon's apartment building, I run up to his floor and down to his door. That's, of course, when my nerves start to hit me again. I start thinking about my present and start thinking that it's just too childish and cheesy. Hell, I didn't even wrap it or anything. I just shoved it in my backpack that I'm using as an overnight bag.

However, I try to suck up those nerves and thoughts. After all, I'm literally at his door. There's nothing I can do to change what I have for him or how I brought it here.

Taking a deep breath, I knock on the door a couple of times and wait for a minute. After a bit of waiting, I hear the locks start to turn on the opposite side. Then, Jon opens the door, and I can see just how tired he is.

"How long have you been up," I instantly ask as I walk in.

"I had a couple test at seven in the morning, so, maybe twenty hours."

"You should have taken a nap or went to bed hours ago."

"I'll be fine. Luke's going to be driving us to the airport around noon."

"That's still-" before I can finish my protest, Jon leans in and kisses me, shutting the door behind me, and wrapping one of his arms around me, pulling me close.

When he pulls away, he presses his forehead against mine and says, "I'll be fine. Now, can I give you the present I got you?"

I sigh before I smile at him and nod. He smiles back and takes my hand before pulling me over to the couch, having me sit down. He then tells me to cover my eyes, which I do with my hands. I hear him walk towards his room for a few seconds before I hear him walk back over.

He sits next to me on the couch, causing it to dip a bit, and then he tells me to open my eyes. I do and look down, seeing a small rectangular box in his hands. Taking it, I open the box and see a little silver plate in it with a design of a paint-splattered heart engraved in it.

I reach in and pull it out, seeing that it's connected to a silver chain, and the pieces instantly fall into place. "You got me a silver dog tag necklace," I say with a smile on my face.

"Flip it over."

I do and see the letter J engraved on the other side of the plate. I look over to him, and he just smiles at me before he pulls out the necklace I didn't realize he was wearing. Flipping the tag in his hand, he shows me the front, which has the same splattered heart design as mine, and the other side has an E engraved in it.

"I still plan to join the military, and, in the future, if I were called into action, I would wear this every second I could, and let everyone around me know that you're waiting for me back home."

My eyes widen as he tells me this and I look back down at the necklace. Then, I put it around my neck and turn back to Jon with a huge smile on my face. "This has to be the most romantic thing anyone has ever done or gotten for me."

He chuckles and scoots closer to me, sliding his arm behind me. "It definitely looks good on you," he then tells me as his thumb runs along the chain, stopping when his hand is on the side of my neck. Then, he slides his hand up and presses it against my cheek, and I can't help but gently shutting my eyes and pressing the side of my face more into his hand. When I open my eyes and look back up to Jon, I see him just staring at me, his tired eyes beaming with love.

"You know, I didn't think I'd ever fall for someone as hard as I've fallen for you. I mean, I was with the same guy for four years, but I didn't feel nearly the same way towards him as I do towards you. I can see a future with you. I could myself spending my life with you. I know we've only been dating for three, almost four months, but I honestly have never felt this way towards anyone else." He then leans in and when our lips are less than an inch away from each other, he stops and looks into my eyes. "I love you, Evan."

He then leans in the rest of the way, having our lips meet in a romantic kiss, which quickly turned into a passionate kiss. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I moan into our kiss as I feel Jon's hands start to travel around my body. Then, he lays me down and I feel him press the lower half of his body against me while his top half simply hovers over me. Then, I feel my body start to shiver as I feel his hands move up my shirt. This is where I'm forced to stop him.

Pushing him away a bit, I look up to him and shake my head. "I love you too, Jon, you know I do. I'm just, I'm still-"

"Can you still not see a future with me," he asks, a bit hurt.

"No, no! It's not that," I quickly say, moving my hands onto his shoulders. "Honestly," I continue, feeling my face start to heat up. "I haven't been this happy in years. I haven't felt this way with anyone. And you've been there for me when I needed you... I never realized how much I needed you in my life until I met you. I feel like my eyes are open now, and I'm seeing the truth of how bad my life was before you. And now, that I've got you, I don't want to lose you... It's just now... I don't know. I just, don't think I'm ready to go that far yet."

He looks at me in shock for a little bit before he smiles and kisses my forehead. "I won't push for it if you aren't ready for it yet then."

I sigh and hug and kiss him. When I pull away, I then ask, "Can I give you your present now?"

Instantly his eyes widen. "Wait, you got me something?"

"Of course," I chuckle before I crawl out from under him. Once I sit up, I pull my bag over and open it. "So, I ran into Luke a few weeks ago at the mall, and he told me that you loved teddy bears."

"The mother fucker," he mutters under his breath. I look up and see him now sitting up as well, and his cheeks are pink. "Yeah, I still really like teddy bears," he admits to me. "It's kind of because of the feeling you get from hugging the bear when you're young. You know, like how as a kid, you slept with a teddy bear to protect you from the monsters your mind created. Well, when I got older, I started hugging them when I was upset or scared. It would give me a somewhat nostalgic feeling from when I was a kid, and I felt like the bear was there to comfort me and protect me."

"Awe, honey," I say after hearing his explanation.

"I know it sounds stupid, but-"

"I don't think it's stupid. I think it's really cute."

He looks at me, his face turning a shade darker of pink before he says, "Whatever. Let's just drop that. What did you get?"

I chuckle a bit before I turn back to my bag and pull out the teddy bear I got for him. His eyes light up the second he sees it. It's a simple light brown bear with a light blue hoodie, with a hockey mask on its face and a toy knife strapped to its paw.

He takes the teddy bear and just stares at it in shock, his thumb rubbing against its cheek under the plastic mask. "This is the cutest and coolest teddy bear I've ever seen! Where did you find this?"

I smile and rub the back of my neck. "Actually, I got the bear from Build-a-Bear, got the hoodie from there as well, which for some reason almost tripled the price for the bear. Then, I found someone who made clothes and accessories for the dolls from Build-a-Bear. I just picked a popular horror movie killer, and asked for the knife and hockey mask."

"Jason from Friday the 13th... That's my favorite horror movie franchise."

I chuckle a bit and grin. "I didn't know that. I just picked Jason because I thought it would have been easier to get the mask and knife made than anything else, and I wanted to get them sent over faster."

"You know Jason uses a machete and not a knife, right?"

I stare at the toy knife for a bit and start thinking back to the horror movie. "... He uses a lot of things to kill the kids, okay. Fuck you. Shut up."

Jon laughs before he puts the teddy bear on the coffee table. He then wraps his hand around the back of my neck and pulls me over to him, kissing to top of my head. "Either way, this is the most thoughtful thing anyone has ever gotten me, and I love it. Thank you so much, babe."

He and I then look back to each other, locking eyes, and we share yet another kiss. This time, it doesn't get as heated. Jon pulls away before it could get the chance too. I then watch as he jumps up and says, "You know, I almost forgot about dinner. I actually had just finished cooking up some cheeseburger for us a few minutes before you got here."

"Please tell me you've eaten today."

"I did. Now, come on," he happily says before he takes my hand and pulls me to my feet. "This may not be the most romantic dinner for two, but it's the best I can do for right now."

I roll my eyes and kiss him again, placing my hands on both sides of his face. When I pull away, all I say is, "I love you."

He wraps his arms around me and kisses me again before he then says, "I love you too."

_... I wonder if that will change when I tell him my real age?_


	36. The Worst We've Seen

***Trigger Warning***

A kind smile. Bright lights around him. Cheerful laugh. Loving eyes.

People loved him. People cared for him. People wanted to protect him.

If only they could see it. Swimming in the outer rims of where the lights end. Circling around him like sharks. The darkness is waiting. The darkness is looking for the perfect chance to attack him.

When I look at him... I can see it slowly making its way towards him. And I have no choice but to stand and wait, stand and watch as it gets ready to destroy him as it did with everyone else.

It shouldn't be too much of a shock, however... He is too innocent for his own good... So that's why everyone pushed him out of the way of each attack, and he never saw it... That is until he looked in the mirror and saw someone walk into the darkness, to buy him just a little more time with his innocence...

_How did I not notice this until now?..._

***

"It is so nice to finally meet someone that my son is dating," the sweet voice told me through my phone screen.

It's two days after Christmas, and Jonathan finally came out and told his family about him being gay, and told them that he was dating me. After a mini freak out reaction that he said invalid his dad walking out of the room, his mom having a panic attack, and his sister laughing, yelling "I knew it" over and over, his mom wanted to say hello to me.

"I have to admit, even if I don't agree with Jonathan new lifestyle, he does know how to pick a good looking man."

"Mom!" Jon looked like he was about to die from embarrassment already, even though his mom and I have barely even talked for a minute.

I chuckle, feeling my face heat up. "Thank you, Mrs. Dennis. It is very nice to meet you too. Hopefully someday soon we can say that is person."

"Oh, I would love that! Granted I'm not looking forward to church for the first time since I was young, but as long as my children are happy, I'll suck it up and be happy for them. And pray a little more," she whispers the last line, but I act like I didn't hear it.

_At least she is trying._

I look behind her, towards the corner of the screen and see Jonathan leaning against the doorframe, watching us speak. He looks over, and it sort of feels like he and I lock eyes, which makes both of us smile.

"Speaking of children, I need to know; do you have plans on adopting in the future?"

I quickly feel my eyes widen and I almost drop my phone. The idea of kids hadn't exactly come to my mind, ever. Most likely because I still am technically a kid.

In the background of the call, I hear a girl laughing and Jon quickly yells at his mom. "We just started dating four months ago!"

"Well, that's plenty of time to start thinking. Plus, you told me that you wanted to come out now because you-"

"Evan, what time is it there," Jon quickly interrupts. I look back at the screen and see him now pulling the camera away from his mom so that it's facing him. "Shouldn't you be getting ready for you?!"

I look at the time and sigh, knowing that he's right. "Yeah actually. I need to leave right now."

From off-screen, I hear someone then yell out, "Isn't it, like, four or five where he is?"

"It's four," Jon says, annoyed. "What's wrong with it being four?"

"What does he do that makes him go to work at four?"

My jaw drops and I, without thinking, ask, "Wait, Jon, you haven't told them what I do?"

Jon snaps his head around to look at the screen and then to the camera. I see the color drain from his face and his eyes go wide. "Well, uh, I thought, uh," he starts rambling.

"That's true, what does he do, Jonny," his mom asks.

Biting my lip, I quickly feel bad, however, "Well, I got to get to work. It was nice meeting you, Mrs. Dennis! Love you, Jon! I'll see you when you get back!"

My quick goodbye instantly snaps him back to reality. "What? Oh no, you don't! You are-" before he could finish his sentence, I quickly end the call.

I instantly start laughing, but quickly get up and start grabbing my things, not wanting to be late for work. As I walk out of my apartment, I look over and see Brock, Ze, and Mini all hanging out in the middle of the courtyard. Pulling myself back together, I decided to walk over to see what's going on. When I walk up to them, they all turn to me and smile at me.

"Hey Evan," Mini greets me. "Brock just told me you started on your sophomore year of high school a few weeks ago. I know you said before that you were going back to school, taking online classes, but damn boy. I didn't know how much work you were putting in to do this. I'm proud of you, man."

"Same here," Ze adds in. "I know it's hard to go back to school, but the fact that you're actually stepping up to go back and get that degree, it says so much."

I blush. "Thanks, guys. I just hope I can get through the rest of my classes just as fast as I got through my freshman classes."

"You know you can always turn to us if you need the help," Brock tells me.

"And when it's a slow day at the club, I can always cover for you if you want to hide out in the VIP rooms to do some work," Ze adds in.

I smile at the three in front of me. "You guys are the best."

They reach over and gently pat my back before Lui and Tyler walk over and join us. Once they do, we all start walking to the parking lot before we split up to get into our different cars, driving straight to the club.

Once there, all of us change and get straight to work, setting up the club. It all feels like a completely normal day. A bit busier than it was last week, but my guess is that these are all there family members from out of state or something. There are definitely a lot of new faces here, which quickly becomes annoying. This means that a lot of the guys here have the idea that just grabbing whoever they want, whenever they want it okay, which it very much isn't.

I wasn't the only one either. At one point, Ze pulled me to the back and asked me to cover for him, because he was one more admitted dick grab away from beating someone's head in with a tray. While we worked around people needed to take breaks before breaking someone's something, it was quickly adding up. After three hours of the club being opened, I was getting ready to punch someone in the face as well.

Especially after one man literally walked up behind me while I was giving a group their drinks. The sick son of a bitch grabbed my hips and pulled me into him, pressing his dick into my ass. He then tried to grab my shorts, and I had to yell out "you had too much" which is code for the security guards to come help us. Part of me feels like Tyler and David had been on the floor with us the whole night already, because they had gotten to me just two seconds around I yelled that out.

The worst part, however, they didn't throw him out. They couldn't, because he claimed to have bumped into me, and the bastards at the table this happened in front of claimed they didn't see a thing. They were probably hoping to see one of us get fucked as if it was a fucking porno.

By the four hour mark, I was pissed and ready to start fighting, telling me that I needed a little bit of time. Looking around the club, I could tell some of the dancers had thought the same thing too. There was only a handful left on the floor, so it was my guess that the others went to the back as well.

Turning to Ze, I sigh and say, "Hey, can you cover me? I need to work on homework or something before I take a tray to someone's dick."

"Yeah, I'll cover you, but don't go to the VIP rooms. Some of the dancers are trying to take care of these assholes in there, hoping that taking them out of the hormonal crowd will get them to calm down a bit."

I look over towards the hall leading to the VIP rooms and I see Mini and Lui leading two people down the hallway. "Shit, those are the only rooms that are soundproofed enough for me to actually get some work done."

"Panda's office is soundproofed," Scotty points out. "Why don't you ask him if you can get some work done in there?"

"I don't know," I say, nervously. "I haven't told Panda that I was going back to school, so I don't know how he would react to hearing that."

"Seriously, how many people here are students?"

I let out a sigh and am about to say something, but am stopped when Ze then says, "Why don't you go work in your car? Just change into your street clothes, lock the doors, take fifteen minutes to work and relax a bit, and then come back."

"That's a great idea, Ze," I happily say, glad to not have to try to explain what I'm working on to Panda. "I'm going on break," I then say as I put my tray down and start running to the back.

As I walk backstage, however, I notice that the area is mostly empty, with all the dancers either being on the stage, the floor, or taking some of the customers back to the VIP rooms. However, I do notice one person back here, peeking out onto the floor from the curtains.

"Panda?"

Panda looks over to me and sighs, shutting the curtains. "Did something happen to you too?"

"What?"

"Almost everyone has gone up to my office, telling me that this crowd has been the worst we've seen in a long time." He then walks over to the couch and sits down. "Well, most have said the worst we've ever seen, but Brock described it as the worst we've seen in a long time. Long before you even came in."

I take a deep breath and walk over. "I was just taking a break because of these assholes."

Panda just sighs and starts to rub his forehead. "What did they do to you?"

"Do you want the list or just the worst?"

"Oh god, there's a list for you?" I nod. "Just tell me the worst of it."

"A man grabbed my hips, pushed me into his dick, and tried to take my shorts off."

"God damn it," he said again. "Alright, I asked our regulars to come in for a check-in, and I'm going to ask them to look the other way."

"Wait, what?!"

My reaction made him rethink what he said and he snaps to attention. "Oh god, that's not what I meant! I'm talking about you guys!"

"What?"

"I'm going to talk to them and have them be extra hands, extra security guards, just for today. And I'm going to ask them to arrest any bastards that put their hands on you guys, and look the other way so you guys can have a little payback if they touch you."

My eyes widen and my jaw drops. "Wait, so, if they touch us or try to grab us-"

"If the regulars agree to help, you can smack them around a bit before they arrest them." I can't help but smile when he says this, which causes him to laugh. "Hey, I make sure to keep a good relationship with the police department for a reason. It's taken a bit of time, but keeping that relationship strong will be important. Especially when it comes to times like this."

He then stands up and stretches, popping his back. "Well, I'll add your incident into the details for them. If you wanted to hang out in someplace quite, you can go ahead and use my office to finish up your break. I'm just going to keep an eye on everyone from here since I need to wait for the regulars to get here."

"When were they coming?"

"I just made the request for them to come about five, maybe ten minutes ago. They just need to report back to their station or some shit like that and then they'll be over."

I nod and thank him before I turn away and run out of the area, quickly running up the stairs. When I pull out my phone, I see that I have about eight minutes left for my break. Not that much time, but it's better than nothing. So, I pull up some of my English homework on my phone and take a seat on the couch and get started on it.

I'm only able to get through reading a couple pages of a chapter I needed to read before my break was up, but its better than nothing. So, I start to back out of everything on my phone before I went back downstairs. As soon as I get back to my home screen, I walk out of the office, down the stairs, and out to the floor, where I'm greeted to Ze growling loudly as he slams his tray onto the bar.

That's not good.

I run over and quickly ask, "What happened?"

"What do you think," Ze snaps. "I'm getting sick of these assholes pressing their fucking boners against my ass! I swear, paying for fucking college isn't worth this shit!"

"Look, things are going to get better soon," I try to reassure him. "Why don't you take another break?"

"Hey!" Ze and I quickly turn around and gasp when we see someone trying to climb over the bar to get to Scotty. Even from the other side of the bar, I can see his bloodshot eyes clouded with lust and the disgusting amount of sweat pouring off of his face. With the chaos that was just these assholes happening around us, I just realized I wasn't paying attention to how much my customers were drinking. And if I wasn't paying attention to that, I don't think anyone else was either.

Ze and I back away, not knowing what to do, but just as the man is about to swing his legs around to be on the other side of the bar, Scotty grabs a full bottle off of the shelf behind him and bashes it into the drunk's head, causing him to fall backward and hit the floor hard.

Before anyone can say anything or do anything, we hear someone yell from the entrance, "Looks like we came just in time."

We all turn and see Jordan, Dan, Aleks, Eddie, and James all standing in front of the entrance, uniforms on and three of their guns drawn. Along with the regulars coming in, two immediately running in and arrest the drunk before he could get off of the floor, Jay stops the music, and we hear Panda walk out on stage. With a fire burning in his eyes, the room stays quiet and a lot of people quickly sober up.

"For those of you who do not know me, I'm the owner of this club! And all night, I've been told about all of you trying to grab my boys in ways that this club doesn't work by! I didn't realize I had to explain this, but a strip club is not the same as a fucking brothel!   
At a strip club, you pay for the tease! At a strip club, you pay to watch people take off their clothes, dance around a pole, and maybe dance on you! At a brothel, you pay for the sex!   
This is a strip club! And because I've gotten over fifteen complaints from my boys, I had to call the police to make sure you boys behaved yourselves. However! Because of that man right there in handcuffs trying to climb the bar, we are closing for the night! Boys, come to the back! Get these fuckers out of here!"

Once he was done speaking, Panda turned away and walked back backstage. Ze then grabs me and practically drags me to the back to get away from everyone on the floor. Soon after we get backstage, the rest of the dancers, servers, and Scotty join us.

"I'm sorry you guys had to go through all of that for so long," Panda tells us. "I've had to work crowds like this in the past as well, and I remember wishing I could rip their dicks off every time they pressed their shit against me."

"I don't get it," I speak up. "Last year we had a crowd from out of state, but they didn't act nearly this bad."

"That was probably because they had more places to go to," Ze then says, rolling his eyes.

"What do you mean by that?"

"You're talking about the three clubs that just got shut down, right," Scotty asks as he walks over to one of the vanities and sits down.

"Hold the fuck up," Panda interrupts. "What are you two talking about?"

"Y'all are talking about the nightclub downtown and the two strip clubs from uptown, right," GaLm asks. Ze and Scotty look over and nod their heads.

"The nightclub got shut down for selling cocaine, molly, and LSD," Ze goes on to explain. "I think I heard that one of the strip clubs was shut down for human trafficking, right?"

"Yeah," Scotty takes over. "According to the news article I read, that club was taking women from other countries and forcing them to work for almost no pay. Some of the women started doing tricks just to get some more money to try to pay their way out. The other club was a gay strip club, and they got shut down because the owner was "encouraging the workers to please the customers at any cost" as one of the dancers from there put it."

My jaw drops when I hear about this. "How did they all get caught?"

"The police, obviously," Ze says. "According to my friend that told me about this, the clubs had been under suspension for a while, so the police sent multiple cops in to collect evidence of all of those things. At the nightclub, they sent several police officers in undercover to buy everything they had to offer, and pounds of it. They ended up even getting the owner on camera, saying that he had been selling for years.   
As for the two strip clubs, they sent people in as Johns. At the straight strip club, they pulled several girls aside after they were offered sexual favors, and the girls told them everything on camera. After they got a search warrant, they found books filled with the girls' names, how much they owed for their freedom and their passports.   
At the gay strip club, they struggled to try to collect evidence without having to pay the boys for sex. They ended up having to catch one of the boys and hope that he would wear a wire or a camera. They somehow got one though."

I look over to Panda and see him shake his head and sigh. "These bastards must have come from that club. They were probably hoping you boys would be just as eager to please them as that other club." He then looks over to the curtains. "It's probably a good thing that I asked our regulars to come by. I'm sure they would love to take in these assholes for pissing all of you off alone. Anyways, after they get rid of these bastards, we'll-"

Panda stops when we all hear screaming and crashes coming from the floor. My blood quickly turns cold as one of the voices quickly stands out to me. It's Tyler. And I can tell that he's struggling with someone.

Everyone quickly runs towards the door and stage to see what is happening, but I feel as if I'm frozen in place. _So many horrible things have happened this year, and we're only a week away from the new year. What other horrible things could happen?... What will the world... this club... do to Tyler, when he was just starting to be happy?_

I feel as if I'm walking on nothing as I walk to the stage and push my way through everyone. My heart pounds heavily in my chest as I see James and Aleks pulling Tyler off of someone, while Jordan and Dan hold the guy down. When they pull him up, I see the same asshole that had grabbed me and pressed his dick on me.

Tyler's face is red and filled with tears. He's screaming that he's going to kill that guy for what he did.

It isn't until Jordan says the charge this bastard will be taken in for that we all stop breathing, shocked and horrified by what had happened when we weren't looking.

"You are under arrest for the sexual assault of Craig Thompson. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you can not afford an attorney, one will be provided for you.-"


	37. The Day After

"You're joking, right," Jonathan asks.

I shake my head and stare sadly at the screen in front of me. I didn't want to keep Jonathan in the dark about what's been happening at the club again, so I told him about what happened last night. It's still such a shock to me, and the thought of everything has been making my stomach twist into knots. Just the thought of what Mini had to go through with that bastard. The physical and emotional pain that he must have felt during and after what had happened. I can still hear him crying hysterically as Dan walked him out to his car to drive him to the hospital.

"God, I can't imagine what they must be going through right now," Jon sighs, looking down at his hands.

I raise an eyebrow and ask, "They?"

Instantly, Jon looks back up and says, "Yeah, they. As in Craig and Tyler. I mean, think about it, Ev. Tyler was trying to help all of you guys on the floor, but just down the hall, that bastard that tried shit with you, that he pulled off of you, was raping his boyfriend. It's none of your guys' faults, but in Tyler's head, he will be blaming himself."

"But there's nothing he could have done!"

"We know that, and Tyler knows that, but his mind is still going to fuck with him. Play the "what if" game, tell him that he should have been there. Hell, I'm in another state, but I know that if that son of a bitch had raped you instead of Craig, I would be so hurt and pissed off that I would want to kill the son of a bitch, but I would also blame myself. I would be thinking, if I was there instead of here, I could have stopped it. I could have saved you from that.  
Tyler just being down the hall from where this happened, he more than likely is thinking, I should have been there. He was so close to me, but I didn't hear him scream if he did. I was just down the hall, and I couldn't protect him."

I stare at the screen in shock, and I slowly start to shake my head. "Oh my god," I finally say as I finally gather my thoughts on what Jon just explained. " I didn't even think about how this would affect Tyler. I feel so horrible."

"Rape affects a lot of people, but you would need to be strong. Talk to Ze and see if maybe Mike is working on the case. That way, you will be able to know what's going on whenever there's an update in the case."

"Wouldn't the regulars be working on the case though, since they were the ones that arrested him?"

"Not really. Since they have a tie to the club, they may not be allowed to work the case. It would be pushed onto someone else."

"But Mike has a tie to the club with Ze."

"And yet, he was sent to question Brock when he was in the hospital, wasn't he? You told me that you ran into him because of that."

I let out a little gasp. "I completely forgot about that."

"The other cops probably don't know that Ze and Mike are dating, so Mike can work the cases from the club."

Before either of us could then say anything else, we suddenly hear someone say, "Awe, are you trying to sound smart to impress your boyfriend?"

Jon snaps his head to the side and glares at someone off-screen before he stands up and slams his hands on the desk. "Get the hell out of my room, Summer!"

"Awe, but I haven't gotten to meet your boyfriend yet."

"I don't care! We are in the middle of something important, so get the hell out!"

"Fine," I hear Jon's sister groan. He starts to sit down, but as he is about to touch the chair, we suddenly hear his sister start to sing the song "I'm in Love with a Stripper", which causes Jonathan to throw his headset off of his head and run towards where his sister's voice was coming from.

I can't help but laugh when I hear them both yelling in the background. After a minute, I hear a door close and Jonathan comes back on screen, putting his headset back on.

"Sorry bout that. My sister is a pain in the ass."

I laugh again before I say, "It's no problem. How old is your sister?"

"She's seventeen, which is probably why she's so god damn annoying."

I feel my heart break a bit. _Annoying?!_

"You don't think all teenagers or seventeen-year-olds are annoying, right?"

"What? Well, no. Just my sister and her annoying ass friends. I'm sure there are some seventeen-year-olds that aren't annoying little shits. Just none that I've met."

I laugh a bit nervously. _Fuck, did I look too nervous? Am I being obvious that I'm uncomfortable with the talk of teenagers? Shit, should I just tell him now? No, I can't! He just had to deal with telling his family that he's gay and dating a guy that works at a strip club! How the fuck will he explain dating someone the same age as his sister?!_

"Evan," Jon asks, worry laced in his voice. "Are you alright? You look pale."

I quickly force a smile and say, "No-I mean, yeah! I'm fine! Maybe it's the lighting or something!"

I then clear my throat a bit and look back to the screen. "I'll talk to Ze in a little bit about Mike. If anyone would know what cases he is working, it would be him."

"Yeah. I mean, it's at least worth a try."

"Jonny," we suddenly hear his sister yell off-screen.

This quickly annoys Jonathan, causing him to rip off his headset and yell back, "What do you want now?!"

"You're girlfriend is here!"

I see Jon's eyes grow wide before he places his headset down and he runs to the door, opening it. "What the hell do you mean, my girlfriend is here?"

"What do you think I mean? Annie's here."

"Why the hell is she here?!"

"I don't know. Mom says she didn't invite her over this time. Maybe she's just here for you."

"God damn it."

"I'll send her up here so you can come out to her."

"Wait, what? Summer, get back here!"

I hear him groan before he walks back on screen and sits back down in front of the screen. He then grabs his headset, puts it on, and says, "Well, this is going to be fun."

"How do you think bible thumper is going to react to you being gay?"

"Not well. I can see her blaming college, the devil, the city, and ending her visit with her recommending I go to an anti-gay thing to make me straight or some shit like that."

"I thought those were only in movies."

"Nah, they're real. People still actually think that being gay is a choice, or that it's a disease that praying and some other shit will help cure you or whatever." He groans again before he looks back up to me. "I'll call you again later tonight, babe."

"Sorry, Del, but I work tonight. I'll call you in the morning."

"Alright. I love you, babe."

"Love you too. Bye."

"Bye."

Once we hang up, I pull my earphones out and sigh. I can't stop thinking about Mini and how he must be feeling. Just the idea of what he could have felt is horrible and is enough to make me feel sick. However, my idea most likely isn't even near what he actually felt. The emotional and physical pain rape brings along with the mental torture that could follow. It's all so much to take in without actually having to go through it. But to actually live through it, I would never wish that hell on anyone.

And now I have to think about Tyler too, and what Jon had brought up. I was so shocked and worried about Mini that I never really thought about how Tyler must have felt. He had really cared about Mini. He really loved him. Seeing him trying to murder the bastard that did all of that to him, you could tell how hurt he was that something had happened to Mini... _How he must be feeling now..._

I shut my laptop and walk out of the apartment, deciding that worrying really won't help me in this case. I need to find out what's happening. As I walk out of my apartment, I can hear someone pacing back and forth from around the corner. Confused, I walk over to where the person is and see Ze on his phone.

"Look, there was nothing I could do to stop that from happening. If I could have stopped it, I would have, you guys know that!... Yes, I do know how bad this looks... Yes, I know... No, you didn't... If you seriously thought that, I wouldn't be here and you know it...." He suddenly stops and I see him start to turn around as he scans the area around him. Before his eyes could get to where I am, I quickly pull myself back and hide around the corner.

Everything seems to stay quiet for a bit before I hear him start to talk again. "Look, babe, I get that you don't like hearing about the shit that happens there, but what do you expect?... Yeah... Yeah... No... Yeah... Okay, but you better call me later. Because as much as you hate hearing about the shit that happens here, I hate staying up all night worrying about you... Yeah... Yeah... Yeah okay... Call me tonight, promise... Thank you. I love you... Bye."

When I hear him say "I love you", I decide to start walking out to where he could see me. As soon as I see him hang up the phone, his back towards me, I put on a friendly smile and say, "Hey Ze."

He looks over his shoulder at me and just calmly says, "Hey Evan. How long have you been here?"

"Just got here," I lie. "What are you doing out here?"

"Well," he starts as he turns to face me and he puts his phone into his pocket. "I was about to head out to see Mike for lunch, but he just called me to cancel."

"Why did he cancel?"

"Because Mini just woke up."

My eyes widen when he says that, and I instantly run over to him. "Wait, Mike is working Mini's case?!"

Ze hushes me before he pulls me over to his apartment, which was the first apartment on the second floor, just above the gym. He quickly opens the door, pushing me in before he walks in and shuts the door behind him, locking it.

"Yeah; Mike is working Mini's case. Pretty much every case that is related to the club has been given to Mike since he started working for this department."

"Why though? And, why him when you're at the club?"

"Because no one at the department knows about me. Mike went to study at a police academy in California. When he came here, no one knew about him and me, and we decided to keep it that way because we didn't want to deal with any homophobic bullshit. That was before we got comfortable here and learned how accepting people are here, of course. But by that time, I had already started working for the club, and he had a few cases for it. So, we agreed to keep it quiet from them."

"So, your relationship is pretty much a secret?"

"For now it is. If he could close the cases he has right now, or I quit the club, we can be public about it. It's just a matter of whichever happens first."

I nod my head and decide to change the subject to what I had originally wanted to know. "How's Mini doing, do you know?"

Ze sighs and leans against the door. "I'm not sure yet. Mike should be on his way to the hospital right now. And, I won't get to talk to him about it until later tonight."

I look down, a bit disappointed. "Oh, alright."

"I'll find out though and let you know the second Mike calls."

"Thanks, but I wouldn't want to take up your guys' time to talk. Just, let me know how Mini is tomorrow. Do you think Panda is going to open the club today?"

"I doubt it. Mike and a team have to go check the VIP room the rape happened in as well as the floor for evidence. That could take them a while, even if it's just two rooms. They only have one shot at collecting evidence against that bastard, so they will take however long they need to in order to get what they need."

I look back up to him and take a seat on one of the stools behind me. "What do you mean, "they only have one shot at collecting evidence"? They have Mini and Tyler to tell them what happened. Plus, I doubt that the guy brought a condom with him, or that he had enough time to get rid of it if he did, so they would have DNA."

"But that still isn't enough," Ze goes on to explain. "When in court, if this goes to trial, you need to prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that the bastard is guilty. Because most of the time, the lawyers for them will pull out the oldest, cheapest, most bullshit things to try to get their clients off, even if they know their client is guilty. And I can see the bullshit they're going to use for this case from a mile away."

I let out a sharp gasp before I start shaking my head, knowing what he means automatically. "No. No, they wouldn't-"

"They would and they will if it could get their client off. They're going to say that since Mini is a stripper because he works in the sex industry, he is promiscuous. They're going to say that Mini gave consent, but he wanted it rough. They're going to say that because Mini led him to the room, it meant he wanted it."

I stare at him, jaw hanging wide open in shock before I slowly start to shake my head. "No... No one would believe something like that, would they?"

"Unfortunately, they would. Rape is one of the hardest crimes to fight against, because most of the time, it's he said/she said or he said/he said, or she said/she said, or whatever. Not only that, but there are people who don't trust the victim when it comes to rape because there are a lot of cases of men and women making false rape reports. There are a lot of cases of teenagers crying rape when they just got pregnant by their boyfriends and they didn't want to tell their parents they had sex, so they blame someone that wasn't even there. There is so much to fight through when it comes to proving rape, and you need to fight through the lies of other cases because people always have those cases in the back of their minds."

"That's horrible."

Ze nods. "It really is. That's why a lot of rapists get let go, and that's why it's more important than anything that we are here for Mini. Because there is a chance that that bastard will still get away with this."

I just shake my head more. "Oh god, Tyler would kill him outside the courtroom."

"I know... We all would at least want to do the same thing because we know... Let's just hope Mike can prove it."


	38. First Sight

***Six Months Earlier***

*Tyler's POV*

"I'm gonna sue you assholes," an asshole yells as he picks himself off of the ground in front of me. "I swear to god, I'm gonna own this fucking club, and I'm gonna fire all of you! My dad's a lawyer! I'll sue you!"

His words are slurred and he can barely stand up without almost falling over. So, I roll my eyes. "Yeah, yeah, you keep saying that ya piece of shit. Let's see how far you get when we say this happened because you tried to follow a dancer backstage while rubbing your dick."

"Fuck you and every whore in there! Give me my money back!"

He then tries to take a step towards the club but is quickly stopped when Marcel quickly throws a punch directly into the asshole's nose, making him fall back to the ground, knocking him out. He then shakes his hand a bit and glares down at the retard. "I fucking hate rich kids that think they're better, just because mommy and daddy have money," he growls before he turns to David. "Take him around to the trash. I'm going to tell Panda to text one of our regulars to come pick him up." He then looks over to me. "Tyler, just keep an eye out and make sure no one else tries anything with the boys."

I roll my eyes and walk back inside, leading against the wall as soon as I'm back on the floor. I've been working for the club for about a year now, and this is honestly getting old. I'm honestly tired of watching these guys dancing on these fucking ugly-ass retards, tired of feeling drained, tired of being tired, and tired of lying. However, I need the money.

I failed a couple classes my first year, lost the scholarship the church gave me and my friends, and while they managed to get new ones, I wasn't. I ended up having to cut back some classes, and I tried working two jobs over the summer. It wasn't enough, I was going to struggle to retake those classes, I already knew it. I wasn't going to make it the year...

My old co-worker brought me here about two weeks into the new school year. After the retard got himself kicked out, I started talking to Marcel. He was really cool and liked that I didn't treat the dancers like whores, so he was willing to let me stay. After a while, he introduced me to Panda, and he helped get me this job. The pay was way better than my two jobs could offer, so I took it. Then I learned why it paid so good. The secrets I had to keep about what the dancers did, protecting them even at the apartments, and Evan.

The kid was only sixteen and was working for the club... I didn't want to keep that silent, thinking that this was wrong, and then Ohm and Bryce told me about where he came from. Where they found him.

I still don't like it, but, it was just enough to make me agree to stay quiet... The guilty would eat me alive if anything bad were to happen to the kid because I spoke up.

I let out a sigh as I watch Bryce playfully spin around on the pole before Ohm walks on stage, swaying his hips as he walks up to him. Bryce starts to slow his spins down before he swings his body around so that he would be facing Ohm. Ohm walked right up to him, eyes locked on each other. Placing one of his hands on the pole and the other under Bryce's chin, starting to lean in. Bryce then let go of the pole, placing his hands on Ohm's chest, only for Ohm to playfully push Bryce behind him, so he could start spinning on the pole, slowly inching his way up it. As he starts to slow down in speed, Ohm starts leaning back, arching his back and only holding on with his thighs.

Bryce smirks and walks up to him, grabbing the sides of Ohm's face and kiss him lightly on the lips. He then lets Ohm go and Ohm sits back up, climbing up a bit and using his weight to start spinning again. This gave Bryce just enough room on the pole to start spinning as well.

Then I hear the door open behind me, so I look over my shoulder to see if it was David. It wasn't.

Instead, I see a guy with dyed blond hair walk in, and I have to fight to keep my jaw up. The guy is buff as hell, and tall. He is definitely what these guys would be into, so I silently prepare myself to break up a fight between the dancers as I turn back to the floor. However, instead of just walking past me, he taps on my shoulder.

When I turn around, he says, "Hey man, can you help me out? I'm here for an interview with Anthony. Do you know where he is?"

I raise an eyebrow, "Yeah, I know where he is. But what are you interviewing for?"

"Dancer."

My jaw actually drops at this point. "Wait really? You look more like a security guard than a dancer."

He laughs and I think he blushes, however, it's too dark in near the doors, so I really can't tell. "I appropriate you saying that, and I would have applied for a security guard position, but you guys aren't looking for any more of those."

"Then, why go for a dancer?"

"Honestly," he starts before taking a step closer to me. He then whispers into my ear, "I just started college, and I already spent all the money I had from my scholarship. I still have things to pay for, and I heard that this job pays well and that the strippers here make bank."

I laugh and smile at him. "Well, don't worry. I won't tell Panda that's the reason you want to work here." He takes a step back and laughs as well, stopping when we hear the door open again. When I look over this time, I see David walk in.

"Perfect timing," I say, crossing my arms. "David, stay here and watch the floor while I take this guy to see Panda."

"Why the fuck do I have to stay here?"

"Because I said so, now fucking stay here," I yell at him before I turn to the guy. "Come on, I'll take you to Panda's office."

He and I start walking around the floor, and I quickly catch him staring up to Ohm and Bryce, as they come to the end of their routine. In which, Bryce falls into a perfect split next to the pole, and Ohm slides down on top of him. Bryce then grabs Ohm's legs and holds him up as Ohm falls into a perfect split in Bryce's hands.

The guy's jaw drops open when he sees that. "Jesus; am I going to be expected to do that?!"

"Yeah," I tell him. "But don't worry. If they aren't your teachers, you'll definitely have someone that's just as good, if not better teaching you how to do that."

We then continue walking around the floor until we get to the door that leads backstage. After making sure that none of the perverts are looking, I open the door and let the guy walk in first. My eyes wander down as he walks by, and I have to fight to keep my eyes in my head and my jaw from hitting the floor. _There is no fucking way that's his ass! That has to be fake or something!_ Before he turns around to face me, I follow him in and quickly shut the door. Once we are in the hallway, I walk in front of him and walk down to the door the leads to the stairwell.

"So, how did you hear about this place," I ask him.

"Well, I heard that there were a couple of students from my school that already work here. No one really knows who, and the ones that do know who are working here aren't saying anything, but I did manage to at least find out how I could apply to here from a few people."

I chuckle as we make it up to the door at the top of the stairwell, and before I open the door, I look back to the guy and say, "Well, just by judging your look, all I need to say is, welcome to fucking hell."

I then push open the door, making Marcel and Panda look back to me. I walk in with the guy behind me and just say, "Sorry, but, this guy says he has an interview with you."

"Oh fuck, I forgot," I hear Panda loudly whisper. "Come in, come in, have a seat," he then says to the guy. As the guy walks over to the desk, Panda starts digging through his desk drawer for a bit.

Marcel just walks over to me and whispers, "Who's this guy?"

"I don't know," I whisper back. "All I know I that he's a college student and he's interviewing for a dancer position."

"Wait, dancer?" I nod my head. "I thought you or David were about to get fired."

"Fucking thanks, asshole."

As Marcel and I start to leave, I can't help but look back for one more sight of the dyed blond haired man. As the door starts to shut behind us though, the last thing I hear is, "So, you're Craig Thompson, right?"


	39. Coming Back

My heart pounds heavily in my chest as Brock, Ze, myself, and the rest of the guys from the club sit in the middle of the courtyard. It's been a week since any of us got to see Mini, and we're all anxious. It wasn't even because he needed to rest in the hospital. Tyler told us that the reason he was taking so long to come back was because he was scared.

He told us that when Mini was discharged from the hospital, he tried driving him back to the apartments, but halfway there, Mini started sobbing uncontrollably. He had to pull into a random parking lot and pull him out of the car in order for him to try to calm him down. He told us that Craig was shaking, having a hard time breathing. The way he described it was that it looked like he was having a panic attack.

So, to calm him down, he rented a hotel room for a week and had Mini stay there. However, they both knew that he couldn't stay away forever. His family lived overseas, and he needed more than just Tyler. So, after taking a week away from the apartments, he decided to come back. And we were all ready to see him. At least, we thought we were.

The second we see Tyler and him walking up from the parking lot, we all stand up and start walking over to them as a group. Mini is a big guy, buff as hell and tall. But when we were walking over to meet him, I swear to god, I have never seen a smaller man. It felt like he wanted to shrink away and disappear, but Tyler wasn't going to let it happen.

Brock and I were the first two to make it to him, and he slowly raised his head to look up at us. He looked tired. He looked weak. He looked like he wanted to crawl into bed and hide away from the world...

The Mini we all knew was gone.

The confident man that would walk around with his head held high. The man who was the life of the party. The man who's personality was all that was needed to light up a room. The man who was loud, proud, worked hard and had so many amazing dreams. The man who tried to inspire others, and loved to make others happy. The man who worried for everyone, was headstrong, and was not afraid to speak for himself.

The man who, one week ago, was trying to help control the harassment we were all going through. The man who just over one month ago was happily getting into a relationship with a close friend.

All of that was gone. The person he once was was killed in his attack. Now, he is a shell of who he once was. Now, he is just fighting to live.

Taking a deep breath, I take a step forward. I look into his eyes and I can see that he is still fighting back tears.

Last week, Ze told me that most victims of sexual assault never like being touched. However, I can't stand seeing my friend like this. So, trying to hold back my own tears, I just ask, "Can I give you a hug?"

He blinks, allowing some tears to fall out. He doesn't say anything, but he nods.

With his permission, I take a few more steps towards him and tightly wrap my arms around him. He jumps at my touch, but soon he wraps his arms around me as well, burying his face into my shoulder. In a matter of seconds, I feel my shoulder start to get wet as he starts to shake.

Brock walks over and hugs us both, gently rubbing Mini's back as he starts to cry harder. Then Ze walks over and he wraps his arms around us as well.

He also starts gently patting Mini on the back, before he softly says, "It's okay, buddy. We're all here for you."

One by one, everyone from the club starts to join in on the group hug, including Tyler. As the group gets bigger, I notice that Mini is starting to cry harder and harder. His crying is turning into a heavy sob. His breathing has become so shakey...

_"It's more important than anything that we are here for Mini."_

_... God knows how true that is..._


	40. The Future of The Club

I let out a heavy sigh as I look around the club. Everyone here is setting up for another day. It's the same shit all the time... But there's someone missing. Mini.

It's been three weeks since he came back to the apartments, and honestly, no one has really seen him since he came back. Despite trying to seeing him and trying to make sure that he's okay, he refuses to really talk or see anyone other than Tyler. The scar that that bastard left on him is deep, and it honestly worries me that no matter how hard we try, we just can't get him to open up. We can't even get him to open the door for us. _All because of one bastard... Can I even say that? Can I even blame him?_

After we set everything up for the night, we all wait for Panda to come out on stage and tell the dancers what to do. While we wait, we all end up sitting at either the bar or at the tables to chat with the others. Well, at least that's what we would normally do. Brock, Lui, and Ze walk over to me to talk, but I spend that time just worrying and wondering what I can do to help Mini. I mean, there has to be something I can do.

As I was starting to get lost in my own mind, Lui grabbed my shoulders and started shaking me. "Evan! Wake up," he yelled in his squeaker voice. "Wake up!"

After a few seconds, he stopped shaking me, and I pushed him away, grabbing the side of my head. "Geez man, I'm here. You don't need to shake me so hard."

"We've been trying to talk to you for a minute," Brock explained. "We got desperate."

"Fuck you."

Before anyone can say anything else, we finally hear Panda walking out on stage, clipboard in hand. He calls us all for line up, and its the same as always. After telling everyone when they would go on stage, he calls everyone to their places.

However, as I start to walk over to the bar, I'm stopped by Panda calling my name. I look over my shoulder to him, and see him staring straight at me.

"Vanoss, before you start your duties, I'm going to need to see you in my office."

I suddenly feel a lump form in the base of my throat as I then watch him walk back behind the curtains. Worried, I look back to the bar, where Ze and Scott are just staring at me, confused. Their eyes only make me feel more worried about what this could mean.

Soon, I force myself to turn towards the door that leads backstage, which Lui is holding open for me. When I step closer, he jumps in front of me. "Dude, what did you do? Why is Panda calling you into his office?"

I shake my head, "I don't know. I don't think I've done anything wrong."

"Well, I wouldn't worry too much about it," Lui laughs. "Panda would never fire you or anything. He loves you too much." He then smirks at me and says, "Plus I'm sure he would instantly save your job for you if you were to promise to get on your knees for him." After saying that, he winks at me and turns away, laughing, and leaving me in shock.

_I... I wouldn't actually have to do that, would I?_

Suddenly feeling scared, I try to build up as much courage as I can before I walk into the hall and into the stairwell. Once I walk up to his office door, I knock a few times before stepping in. My heart pounds heavily in my chest as I walk in and see him at the bar, pouring two drinks. One with whiskey, and one with coke.

He looks over to me and smiles. "Thank you for coming so fast. Come, I need to talk to you."

Shutting the door behind me, I walk over to him and follow him as he walks to the window facing the club. He then hands me the coke and he takes a drink of his whiskey.

I nervously rub my arm and take a drink of the coke, my eyes just locked on the floor as people start to walk in. Panda and I just stay silent for a while, so I decide to at least break the ice a bit.

"Uh, Panda. I'm not in trouble, am I?"

He chokes on his drink before he looks over to me. "What; no. Where did you get that idea?"

"Well, you never asked me to come in here before."

"Okay, you got me there. But no, you're not in trouble. I wanted to talk to you about something really important."

"What is it?"

"It's about your future at this club."

He motions for me to follow him before he walks over to his desk, taking a seat behind it. I walk over and sit in front of him, holding the coke tightly in my hands to hide how nervous I am.

"First off, I want you to tell me how you feel about the club. I know that these last couple of months haven't been the best, so I want you to be honest about how you feel."

I look at him, a bit shocked. I wasn't expecting that to come up at all. So, I look down at my drink and think about how I can word all of this.

_He said he wanted me to be honest..._

"I honestly don't know how I fully feel about the club anymore. On one hand, everyone here feels like family. Or at least, some of them do. You gave me a chance, gave me a home, and I can never forget that.  
But on the other hand, I don't know how I feel anymore. All those lies everyone hid from me, the accidents, the deaths, the rape. I just-"

I shake my head and try to think of what else to say, but nothing comes to mind. "I don't know how I feel about this place anymore. I have so many happy memories from here, but part of me feels like happy memories aren't going to be enough for me to fully be happy here anymore."

"Do you want to leave?"

I look up at him and see a hurt expression on his face. He is obviously upset with my words, but he told me he wanted honesty. And now, I'm facing a new question. Should I tell him the truth or lie? A million little "what ifs" flow through my mind, making me feel like I'm drowning in a sea of worries and risks. The idea of still being honest comes with a fear of losing my home and job. The idea of Jon getting in trouble if someone were to find out about my age and us. The what ifs... I can't be honest with him, but at the same time, I can't blindside him when I finally quit.

So, I sigh and say, "I just don't know. Part of me wants to stay, and the other part thinks that, I don't know."

"I can't say that I'm surprised. That's what I wanted to talk to you about." He stands up and walks around to the front of the desk. He then leans against it and looks down to me. "Do you remember when Brock was in the hospital? Do you remember what I told you?"

I nod and feel another knot start to form in the base of my throat. "You told me that everyone at the club saw me as their kid. But that you didn't."

"That's right. Because I see you as the future. Do you know what I meant by that?" I shake my head. "What I meant was that I see you as the future of this club. I see you as the person I pass the club down to.  
I don't have kids, and I don't plan on having any ever. So, my plan was to grow old with the club, and when I'm ready to die, I would pick whoever I thought would take the best care of the club for me.  
I never thought I'd find someone I would want to pass it on to so fast though."

My jaw drops when as he says all of this. I've always thought that he would pass this onto me, but hearing him actually saying it makes this all seem so surreal.

"You still will have a long ways to go, of course. After all, you've only been a server for two years, and I haven't really taken the time to teach you the ins and outs of the club. However, as soon as we get more employees in for the dancers and the security guards, I'm positive I'll be able to teach you all I know about running the club. Not to mention, as soon as we finish all of the legal bullshit with some potential partners, I'll be able to start a chain of clubs. The next one will go up in the downtown area. And imagine, you being the one running that club, all by yourself. We will be business partners, and create something I've only dreamt of."

He then chuckles before he looks towards the window. I swear, I think I can see tears starting to form in his eyes. "Honestly, when I was your age, I never thought I'd be able to do any of this. I don't think I ever told you about my childhood, did I," he asked before looking back to me. I shake my head.

"Well, my mom was an idiot when she was younger. She didn't think about the consequences of her actions; she only thought about the now. All she wanted to do was have fun and party. Without her parents knowledge, she dropped out of high school and decided to become a stripper at the young age of seventeen, because she believed in the Hollywood version of strip clubs. Sex, light and glitters, and nonstop parties. Well, her party ended when she learned she was pregnant with me.   
Her parents kicked her out, she ended up living with some older stripper that worked there, and eight months later, I popped out. I was a product of the sex industry, and was born into it. I even grew up in it. When I was ten, I would hang around my mom's boss, and he taught me everything I know now.  
At fourteen, he got the idea of me owning my own club in my head, which he liked, because he knew I was gay, so I wouldn't be his competition, and because he saw me as a little him. We even made a deal, where he got me a job and in return, I had saved up my money for this. So, he called up a buddy of his that owned gay club and got me a job there. I worked as a janitor, then a server, and finally a stripper for that club. And I stayed there until I was twenty-three, which was when I got this building. Then I worked as a bartender and started living out of here. At this time, the club was shaky. I had five strippers, they worked off tips, and I didn't know for sure if they would show up the next day. That's when I found Ohm and he told me he was seventeen, had been living off the streets for a year, and he himself was desperate. So we made a deal."

"Wait, Ohm was here since the very beginning?"

"He was. Anyways, he and I made a deal, where he would work as one of my strippers, but half of his tips would go to me. In return, he got to live out of the club with me. He liked it, and took the deal.  
With his help, the club ended up growing more and more. That was all about ten years ago." He sighs and looks back out to the club.

"Believe me, there had been a lot of ups and downs over the years, but after you came in, things seemed to settle down. Stalking wasn't as bad, the customers had settled down and we ended up having some of the most respectable people I had ever seen become our regulars. Hell, even the overdoses had dropped to zero for such a long time. We weren't having a lot of problems... So when we got hit with all of that bullshit at the end of last year, I started worrying about how you would be taking all of this. But, I have to think of the club first. So, I couldn't do this until now. Talk to you about all of this, I mean."

He then looks back to me. "I know that this job comes with a lot of evil and risk, but I honestly can't see myself passing this job onto anybody else but you. So please," he then says as he pushes himself off of the desk and he takes a step towards me. He then puts his hands on my shoulders and leans down so that he is eye level with me. "I want you to rethink everything. Think about the past few years you have been with us. Think about your happier memories with us, and think about the future. Think about what you could see with and without the club. Because I promise you, although there is a lot of hardships, there can be a lot of rewards to come with this. That is, if you want there to be."

I just look back at him, unsure of what to say next. After a minute, he pats my shoulders and says, "Like I said, think about it. I can wait for the answer. In fact, how about we make a deal." I gulp and nod my head. "I'll let you think all of this over until after your eighteenth birthday. That way, you'll be a full on adult, and you'll get to make the biggest decision of you're life right away! Not only that, but you'll have just a little more than three months to come up with your decision! Does that sound fair?"

I nod.

"Great. Now, why don't you finish your drink and go back to work? I need to finish up some work of my own."

I nod again and down the drink before I stand up and walk to the door, placing my glass on the bar as I leave. I feel like I'm in a dream, but I'm now questioning if it is a nightmare.

_What am I supposed to do now?_


	41. Late Night Diner Thoughts

Hours seemed to have flown by, and before I knew what was happening, the club had closed its doors, and we were all to go back to the apartments. I, however, take a different turn than the others and go to the diner. Jon and I had a date planned for tonight, and part of me couldn't wait to see him. It had been a while since we've met up here, but when I sit down in an empty booth facing the door, it feels like nothing had changed. Looking around, I see cops, people who left the clubs, and late night college kids, trying to get food as they stay up working.

I smile to myself when I see this, and it only gets bigger when I see Mark walking over. "Hey Evan," he greets me with a friendly smile. "Haven't seen you in a while."

"I know; it's been too long."

"Well, Jon texted me a little while ago, telling me to tell you he was going to be late."

I raise an eyebrow at this. "Why didn't he just text me?"

"Because he wanted me to cover his ass so you wouldn't be mad at him."

My smile falls into an unamused expression. "What did he do?"

"Lied to you about him finishing his English paper hours ago, so you would keep texting him." I roll my eyes and shake my head. "He'll be here in about twenty minutes."

"Thanks for telling me."

"You want the usual?" I give him another smile and a slight nod.

After the small exchange, he turns and walks away, leaving me alone with nothing but my thoughts. Though, maybe that is for the best. After all, I need to decide now what I'm going to do. If not now, then I'll never think this through.

I sigh and look out the window as I start thinking about everything over the past two years. Like Panda said, this is a big decision. And I know I told Jonathan that I would quit the club, but that was before I was promised anything. Or, should I be saying offered?

Shaking my head, I shut my eyes and do all I can to block out the laughing and talking from the people around me. Once I do, I clear my mind and start to really think back to my time at the club.

The first few things to pop up, however, are the faces that I'll never get to see again. Bryce, Marcel, Lucas, and Ohm... Three people who are dead, and one who I can't find. I have to hold back tears as I think about the fact that Bryce was killing himself for years, in front of me, and I never noticed. Popping pills behind my back, mixing it with alcohol to give him energy, and risking every day to escape his life. The fact that I stood next to him while he was dying, choking on his own vomit, is a thought that will haunt my nightmares.

Marcel and Lucas, I guess I can't blame the club fully for. However, I can't help but think about what Lucas' killer had said a week before his death. He called him a whore and accused him of fucking others. And it was all because of where he worked... And me. A simple text to make sure I was safe was used to make him look bad. The club was pushed to make him look like a whore. One break up with a fucked up excuse for a human later... Two people are gone. It happened so fast. It felt out of nowhere, but I don't think anyone that has lived through something as serious as a shooting could say they saw it coming.

Then, Ohm. The man who is still alive, but unseen. The man who saved me and brought me into this world. He gave me a home, a family, friends, and helped me through so much. He taught me so much and was there for me. And now, just because he quit, I'll possibly never see him again. And that kills me.

However, I can't lie to myself. Although I have lived through that bullshit and heartache, I had so many happy memories. Although Ohm was the one who brought me into the club, the club became my everything. It became all I needed for so long.

The nights I spent there had been so much fun, and I remember feeling like I was finally welcomed somewhere. The only thing I had to hide was my age, but that didn't matter. I didn't have to stay locked up for hours anymore. I was allowed to come and go whenever I wanted. I was free from the abuse of my parents' addiction and had everything I could have wanted right there at the club. And in a way, I still do.

I have a parent figure in Brock and Panda, a best friend in Ze, and brothers in Tyler, Lui, and Mini. I have a family in the club, and because of it, I met the man that I would want to spend the rest of my life with.

When I open my eyes, I just stare out the window. I have so much to thank the club for... So many amazing memories. It helped me grow up. It has been such a huge part in my life. To let it all go would kill me.

Not to mention, this would mean I have a job at eighteen. I wouldn't have to rely on college or have to come up with a plan B. This would mean that everything I would ever need is already set up for me. All I would have to do to is say yes, and I will be a manager of a successful business. A co-owner, and when Panda steps down, I'll be the owner. With how many customers come in and out every day, the amount of money that has to go in would allow me to live a comfortable life.

There are so many reasons I can think of for me to accept the offer. Even with everything that has happened these past few months, I still have so many more happy memories and amazing reasons to stay.

I snap back to reality when I see a truck pull into the parking lot and park next to my car. The headlights turn off and soon I see the driver side door open and shut as the driver gets out. Then, I see a figure start to walk closer, and once they come into the light, I smile when I see that it's Jonathan.

_Jonathan..._

He didn't want me to stay at the club. He thought there would be more for me after I got out. He... He wants better for me, and he thought the club wouldn't be the best place for me...

_On one hand, I will be financially secure, and on the other, I will be out of a dark industry..._

The bell above the door rings as Jon walks into the diner. He quickly walks over to the booth and gives me a quick kiss before he sits in front of me. I look over and see that Mark had placed my soda next to me while I was staring off, thinking about the club. Suddenly, I feel bad for being rude and not acknowledging him.

"You okay, babe," Jon asks me.

"I'm fine," I lie. "So, you finished your work, finally?"

"What?"

"Mark told me the truth."

Jon looks over to the counter, where Mark is hanging out, and he glares at him. "I'm not tipping you, asshole," he growls.

"I'll tip him a fifty then," I say with a smirk.

Jon looks back to me with huge eyes. "We don't even spend that much on food here!"

"Yeah, but he didn't lie to me when you did and you told him to."

"Oh come on, it was a little lie."

I just laugh and look down to my drink.

_I think I know what I need to do... But first, I need to come clean... But not now. I just can't do it now. Not when he has something planned for us tomorrow._


	42. Lover's Cliff

***Trigger Warning***

My heart jumps up to my throat as I feel the car come to a stop. My palms start to sweat, my stomach starts to twist, and the blindfold around my eyes starts to feel itchy. My nerves are starting to eat away at me as I hear the car door open and shut at the driver's side, leaving me in the car alone.

Soon after, I hear the door on my side open and I feel a pair of hands slide across my lap before it gets to the seatbelt. After they unclip it, they then pull me out of the car, shutting the door behind me. Putting their hands on my shoulder and the middle of my back, they then lead me forward. As we walk, I can't help but notice just how quiet it is.

The only noise that I can hear besides our footsteps are crickets, which honestly makes me even more nervous. I've lived in the city for a long time. It's never this quiet.

"Where are we," I ask, but I get no answer. They keep leading me to where they wanted me to go before we finally stop. I'm then pushed onto a rock and told to wait here before I hear them run off.

I take a deep breath and do as I was told, sitting uncomfortably on the rock as I wait for them to come back. After a minute, I hear them walking back over to me. Taking my arm, they pull me up and push me forward, towards where they had just came from. Then, they have me stop before they finally pull off the blindfold.

I gasp loudly as I see a blanket laid out in the middle of a grassy clearing, just before a huge dip of the hill or mountain that we're on. On the blanket are a bunch of fake candles and a picnic basket, and the view from here overlooks the lights of the city.

My eyes light up and I feel my heart start to beat harder before I turn around and face Jon, who has a nervous look on his face. "I know it isn't fine dining, but-"

"This is amazing," I yell out as I hug him tightly. "This is the most romantic thing anyone has ever done!"

He lets out a sigh before he hugs me back and whispers, "Happy Valentine's day, Evan."

After our hug and a couple of kisses, Jon and I walk over to the blanket and sit down. We have a simple meal that he packed, stare off to the city for a bit, and then decide to pack up our mess and put it back in his truck. However, after we put everything away, I can't help but look around and see how high up above the city we are. Even from the truck, this city was more breathtaking than I had ever thought it would be.

Jonathan sees me looking around and walks over to me, loosely wrapping his arm around me. "You know, at the end of the road, the view is even better than this."

I look over my shoulder at him. "Than why did you pick this spot for the date?"

"Because," he starts before he starts kissing the back of my neck. "That spot is more known for being called Lover's Cliff."

My eyes widen and I instantly start pushing him away. "You took me on a date to Lover's Cliff!? Are you fucking kidding me!?"

He laughs and lets me go, watching me fall to the ground as I push myself away from him. "No, I took you on a date half way up to Lover's Cliff. And I want to show you the view from up there."

I pick myself up pat the dirt off of my pants. "I'm not going."

"Evan, come on," he continues and he walks over and puts his hands on my hips. "Don't you trust me?"

"Of course I trust you."

"Then come on. I want you to trust me with this. I promise, we won't do anything you don't want."

I raise an eyebrow at him, but I quickly agree. We then turn around and walk back to his truck, getting in and starting the drive all the way up to the end of the road, which comes to a large clearing. Jon the parks the truck in the middle of the clearing.

He then shuts off the lights and jumps out of the truck, running over to my side to let me out. He then leads me closer to the edge of the cliff, using the flashlight on his phone to see how close we can get. When we stop and I look out into the city, I can't help but let out a loud gasp. The lights, the buildings, brightly standing out from the darkness of night. It's honestly breathtaking.

Without thinking, I lean into Jon and tightly wrap my arms around him. "I don't think I've ever seen the city look so beautiful."

"Definitely the third most beautiful thing I've seen tonight."

"Third?"

"Of course." He then kisses the top of my head and says, "The first one being you. And the second being this." He then pulls me back to his truck and takes me around to the bed.

He pulls the back down and helps me get into the back before he jumps in too. He then lays down and has me do the same. When I do and I look up into the night sky, my eyes widen in amazement. Living in the city, even in the dark of night, the few lights that stay on throughout the night are more than enough to drown out the natural lights of the sky. It had been years since I was able to see stars. But now, being away from the light pollution that drowns the city, not only do I get to see the few stars I remember seeing as a kid looking up in a suburban neighborhood, but I get to see all of the true beauty of the night. It's like looking at a painting.

Jon slides his arm under my head and shifts his body a little, shaking the truck as he makes himself comfortable. I lean into him but keep my eyes locked on the sky. "This really is beautiful."

"I feel like some of the lights from the city are still drowning out the stars. You should see how the night sky looks in my hometown. I live just outside of a small town, away from big cities, so when it's night, you can really get the full view of its true beauty. Don't get me wrong, this is still beautiful, but the night when you're more than an hour away from the city or the suburbs, it's unbelievable."

I look up to Jon and thank God that it's too dark out for him to see how red my face is as I ask, "Would you show me that someday?"

He chuckles before I feel the bed of the truck start to shift again as he moves onto his side. His hand then moves down to my hip and he starts to gently rub it before he says, "I was planning on doing just that. Maybe over the summer when the school year is done with, and maybe for next winter break. You know, that way I can take more than a week to shock the town by showing you off."

I laugh and wrap my arms around his neck. "For someone who was so scared about coming out just a few months ago, you're becoming so much bolder about being gay."

"Well, my friends are all, you know, not straight, and they've been more loud and proud about it than I have been. I want to change that. And I want to be man enough to hold you close and tell every homophobic bible-thumper there that what we have is love, and that no matter how much they yell, spit venom, or cry, that it will stand strong.  
I don't think I told you, but when I told Annie I was gay, the first thing that bitch said was, well we can change that. She then talked about praying the gay away and anti-gay programs that could help "save my soul". Then when I told her about you, she started blaming you for me being gay. Calling you the devil in disguise, saying that you were going to drag me to hell. She even had the fucking nerve to call you an "it". When she started saying we couldn't love each other because it was wrong, I had it. I literally grabbed her by her arms, dragged her downstairs, and threw her out of the house. I called her so many things that I wanted to say for a long time and told her that she had better stay away from me and my family, or I would get a restraining order. After slamming the door in her face, I felt amazing!  
And it was because I did something that I was so damn scared to do before. I finally stood up for myself for the right to be myself. I came out to my family and, even though they're not too happy with it, they told me that they were willing to try to accept me for who I am. And I wouldn't have done any of that if it wasn't for you."

I fight back my tears that want to escape from me before I lean in and kiss him. When I pull away, I shut my eyes and take a deep breath before I sit up. _Tonight has been amazing, and I don't want to ruin it... but I have to. He deserves to know the truth. The whole truth._

"Hey Jon," I start. "Have I ever told you why I left my home?"

The truck shifts again as Jon sits up and pushes himself up next to me. "No, you've always just said that it was toxic at your house and that you felt that the best thing you could have done was leave."

"Well, there's sort of a long story that goes with why I left. I should have told you about it a long time ago though."

"Evan, I figured there was a reason why you didn't want to talk about it, so I wasn't going to push it. Hell, you don't even have to tell me about it now if you don't want to."

"It's not as simple as I don't want to tell you, Jon. This is more of a, I need to tell you." As I get ready to continue, I notice headlights start coming up from the road. "So, I told how my dad lost his job when I was ten, right?"

"Yeah?"

I see the car come up into the clearing and stop about twenty feet away from the cliff.

"Well, after he lost his job, things started looking really bad for him. Because he wasn't the only one to lose his job. Around a thousand people lost their jobs with him."

"Holy- so wait, he and a thousand people lost their jobs?"

"Yeah, because the company he was working for went under."

I see the driver of the car step out, leaving the headlights on as they walk around to the front of the car. They then put something on the windshield of their car before they start walking to the front of it. As they walk more into the light, I gasp when I realize I know who is up here.

"No," I say quietly, pushing myself off of the truck and running over to where the car is parked. The closer I get to them, the closer they get to the edge of the cliff. My heart starts pounding even harder as I reach the headlights, my shadow reaching out and touching the back of his shoes as he is about to step out of the light. His dyed blond hair with dark roots barely visible in the darkness of night.

"Mini," I yell out.

He stops and spins around, looking back to me in shock. "Evan? What are you doing out here?"

"What- no! What are you doing out here?!"

"N-nothing. J-just go home! Leave right now!" As he yells, he starts backing away from me, closer to the cliff.

"Mini, stop, please! You're going to-" I stop when I finally realize why Mini is out here. Lover's Cliff is beautiful, but the cliff is about a four-story drop. "No... Mini please."

"Just leave, Evan!"

"Mini, come on! You have so much to live for!"

"No Evan, I don't!" He takes another step back, however, the lights from the city show me his silhouette. "I don't have shit to live for! Not anymore. I'm not me anymore, and I fucking hate that! I can't eat, I can't sleep, I can't even take a shit with thinking about what happened! I have consistent nightmares where I relive that hell over and over again! I had to fight myself just to go back to the apartments! The very thought of going back to work scares me to the point where I shake and break down into tears!"

As he yells all of this to me, I can hear his voice start to shake and crack. He's starting to cry. "I'm a fucking walking mess! It's been over a month, and I'm still relying on Tyler to help me fight my way through my bullshit! I'm stressing him out with the fact that I don't want to eat! I'm keeping him up because I keep waking up screaming and in tears! I literally need to be watched by the man I love just to make sure I live, but in return, I'm stealing his life from him! And that's not fair for him!"

"Mini, Tyler loves you. He doesn't mind helping you while you're trying to fix yourself."

"But I do!" He takes another step closer to the cliff. "To make it even worse for him, he can't even get shit in return for taking care of someone so fucking broken! I'm going to be out of work, I can't physically repay him for the time he's taken off of work or for the days he's missed from school! I have to fight to keep myself from trying to push him off of me when he wants a hug or when he tries to calm me down! I don't even like the idea of sex anymore... and even if I did, my life is over with it!"

"What do you mean?"

He starts sobbing even louder. "The bastard gave me HIV!"

My heart stops and I feel a lump form instantly in my throat. I had to fight just to get the word, "Wh-what," out.

"A nurse told me the night I went to the hospital that if I felt like I was getting the flu two to four weeks after, to come in. About three weeks after I got out of the hospital, I went back because I felt sick. They tested me and I came back positive for HIV. It can turn into Aids, and if somehow, my blood were to mix with Tyler's or we were to have sex, I could put him through the hell I'm going to be living! It's treatable, but not curable, and it will be hell for me and hell for him! A hell that I would put him through! And it's not fair! It's not fair! It's not fair!"

"You're right," I quickly say, trying to inch my way over to him, but he notices and takes another step back, causing me to stop. "You're right, Mini. That's unfair. But the police are working on the case, remember. They are going to put this bastard away for what he did to you."

"No," Mini yells out, his voice now cracking from how emotional he is. "No, he isn't! This isn't even going to fucking court, Evan!"

"What?"

"The bastard had fucking money, and his lawyer got him off with a fucking deal! No jail time! Just probation and he has to be labeled as a sex offender for three years! Only three fucking years! Meanwhile, I a fucking STD for the rest of my fucking life! And it's not fair!  
It's not fair that I have to go through this! It's not fair that that bastard is getting off so fucking easily! It's not fair that Tyler has to go through this with me! It's not fair that my dad called me after I got out because he got contacted by the police, and the truth came out! My family wants nothing to do with me because I'm a faggot working for a faggot strip club! It's not fair!"

"So you think killing yourself is the answer," we hear from the shadows. I look over and see Jon run over and stop next to me. "Don't think about your family, just think about what this will do to Tyler. If you think it's unfair that he has to help you, think about how heartbroken he will be if you are gone. Don't you think he will think life is unfair?"

"I recognize your voice," Mini says in a plain tone. "You're one of Tyler's friends... so that's what you're doing out here, Evan."

"Mini-"

"Don't worry. Your secret will stay with me." After he says that, he takes another step back... but this time, I see his silhouette fall back. I scream and try to run over to him, hoping that maybe, I could save him, catch him, something. Anything.

But Jon grabs my arm and pulls me back. I start screaming more and more, pounding my hands into his shoulders and chest, begging him to just let me go so I can help him. But no matter how hard I hit him, how much I scream, how much I beg him, he won't let me go. He keeps his arms tightly around me, and after several minutes of fighting, I fall to my knees and cry into his chest.

_This has to be a nightmare... It's not fair... I just lost the same friend twice._


	43. Twisting

***Trigger Warning***

The night rolled by so slowly that it honestly felt like the world had stopped turning at some point. My mind keeps wandering back to last night. To Mini. It all feels like a horrific nightmare, but no matter how much I scream, cry, and beg, I just can't wake up.

After what Jon and I saw, I begged him to just take me home, telling him that some police officers are regulars at the club, and although I wanted to get someone out there to get Mini, I knew that they would tell the guys at the club and that there was no saving Mini from that fall... _forty fucking feet with nothing but rocks at the bottom..._

When I got back to Jon's apartment, I called the police, made an anonymous tip, and went home. The next morning, I had to confirm what I had already known. Mini killed himself, and his suicide note left on his car windshield told everyone what he told me last night.

Everyone wanted to avoid work today, but Panda told us that everyone was needed today. He said he couldn't afford to close the club again. He might have been telling the truth, but I'm not too sure. Valentine's Day normally is a busy day, a lot of single guys and girls normally come in to see us.

Anyways, throughout the long night, there was such a somber feeling that hung over the club that it honestly felt more like a funeral home more than a strip club. Everyone had lower energy levels, even Lui. No one was in a talkative mood, not even Ze and I. It took so much strength to keep all of us from breaking down into tears that we were all tired... especially Tyler.

Tyler has been holding back tears for hours and has been more or least gone today. Everyone could tell that. And seeing him like this honestly killed me, because I knew how much he loved Mini. I could only imagine the shit going through his mind. I could only imagine how much he is blaming himself for something that he couldn't have avoided.

_That I failed to stop._

The night dragged on for what honestly felt like days. However, it finally came to an end. We were able to kick people out. We were able to change our clothes. We were able to go home.

Home... Back to the apartments where Tyler left Mini... where he cried when he came back the night after and saw that he was gone... the pain in his voice at that time was heartbreaking enough. He was so scared and so worried. All he wanted was to make sure Mini was okay... and to hear that after I knew what had happened...

That pain doesn't matter anymore, I guess... because the tears of yesterday had nothing on the tears of this morning. Over the past year and a half I've hung out with Tyler, never had I seen him as defeated as this. Not when he was afraid of getting kicked out of college. Not when he had to stay up for days at a time to worry about homework, work, and classes. Not even when we lost everyone last year. Never had I seen him on his knees in tears... until this morning...

Looking over to him now, as he sits at Mini's vanity, just looking through the shit he had in the drawers so he could clean it out, he doesn't look the same. He looks like his world had been destroyed... I guess it has.

_"Don't think about your family, just think about what this will do to Tyler. If you think it's unfair that he has to help you, think about how heartbroken he will be if you are gone. Don't you think he will think life is unfair?"_

_If Mini could have seen how his death would have affected Tyler, I wonder if it could have prevented it... I wonder if there was anything I could have said that would have prevented it._

"Evan?" I turn around and see Brock, Ze, and Lui standing next to me. "Aren't you going to finish changing?"

I sigh and rip out the panda ears, pulling out some of my hair in the process, and throwing them into my locker before I take off the crop top, switching it with a plain black t-shirt. I then slam my locker shut and turn back to the guys. Brock just reaches over and starts to gently rub my back. "I know that you're upset-"

"Save it," I quickly say as I push Brock's hand off of me. "I'm just sick and tired of hearing that someone I got close with is dead. Besides, I'm not the one everyone should be worried about." I then look over to Tyler as he stands up from Mini's vanity and shuts the drawer.

"He has a point," Lui says before he steps in front of us. "We may have been friends with him, but he was closer to Tyler."

"I couldn't imagine how he must feel," Ze says, looking down to the ground.

"I could," I then hear Brock whisper.

Without saying anything else, we all walk over and crowd around Tyler. Brock then gently grabs Tyler's shoulder and asks, "How are you feeling?"

"How do you fucking think," Tyler says, pulling his arm away. "I'm pissed, heartbroken, and confused. I just don't get why Mini did this and... and why he didn't tell me what was going on in his head. I was willing to do anything to help him, and he just... I just don't get why!?" His voice starts to rise as he continues to talk, and I can't help but notice that he's trying to hold back his tears. "I just don't get why he didn't tell me about his family, or what the police told him, or about that bastard giving him HIV! I was with him all day and night! I didn't care about how often I had to turn away from my homework, or how often I missed class, or how often he woke up in the middle of the night! I was willing to be there for him... was that not enough?"

"You can't blame yourself, Tyler," Brock tells him. "None of us knew what Mini was thinking. None of us knew that he was going to do this. If anyone knew, we would have tried to stop him, especially you."

"This is something that happens to a lot of victims of sexual assault," Ze adds in. "From what we saw, it honestly looked like the trauma triggered something in Mini. He may have had depression before all of this, and the trauma only made it worse, or maybe he developed depression from the trauma. When his family cut him off and he was diagnosed with HIV, it may have started leading him to some dark places. Places where he saw nothing but bad in every good thing he had. Then, when the lawyers made the plea deal, it was the final straw."

"Why did they make a plea deal with that asshole anyways," Lui asks.

"Because they told him exactly what I thought his lawyers were going to say. Because Mini worked in the sex industry and because he led him to the back room, he wanted it."

"How the hell do you know about all of this," Tyler asks.

Ze's eyes grow wide and he looks around to everyone. However, he sighs and hangs his head. "Well... I trust you guys enough, but I am begging you guy, please don't let it escape this group." Everyone nods and lean closer to him. Everyone, except me. I stare at him in shock as he finally says, "I've been dating this guy for a while now. We've gotten really close, and have been talking a lot. And... he works for the police department."

"Wait, you're dating a-" before Lui could yell out the final word, I quickly slap my hand over his mouth to keep him quiet.

"How long," Brock asks.

"A few months," Ze answers, his face starting to turn red from the attention.

"Was he the guy with the gay ass superman haircut," Tyler then asks.

"Do you really think it's gay? I think it's really cute. Especially after he takes a shower and he doesn't put anything in it. Then his hair gets nice and fluffy." The smile on his face starts getting bigger as he goes quiet, telling me that all he is doing is thinking about Mike. It's then that I see it again. The love just beaming in his eyes. The love that was still strong between them even after so many years together.

"Does he have access to Mini's case," Lui then asks when he finally pulls my hand off of his mouth.

Ze's head snaps back to us and he sighs before he looks away from us. "Yeah... actually, he came here looking for evidence after it happened, and he was put in charge of going over everything."

"Then why did that bastard get let off with a slap on the wrist," Tyler yells at him. "Why didn't your fucking boyfriend give them a strong enough case to get that bastard into court?!"

"He did all he could, Tyler. You need to realize, rape is one of the hardest cases to prove."

"Don't give me that bullshit!"

"Do you realize how this is a harder slap on the wrist than some rape cases are," Ze yells back. "I don't know if you've kept up with the fucking news, Tyler, but there are cases of rape where that son of a bitch doesn't have to spend time in jail, some where they only spend six months in it, some where they don't even have to register as a sex offender, and some where absolutely none happens to the bastard! Not probation, no registration as a sex offender, nothing! The fact that this guy got probation and will be registered is the best they could have done!"

"You know what would have been better though? Him going to jail!"

We can see the anger in both Ze and Tyler start to boil over, so Lui and Brock quickly grab Tyler and start to pull him away, towards the back door, while I pull Ze over to the curtains, just to get him away from Tyler. I can see a fire burning heavily in his eyes that he is trying to get control of, but he's struggling to do so.

"That fucking son of a bitch doesn't know how hard it is to be a fucking police officer," he growls. "The long hours, always being on call, even on your days off. The fact that you put your life on the line, sometimes getting shot at for just pulling up to an area that a crime was happening at, but you didn't even fucking know it was going down. The death threats from a criminal's family for arresting their kin, even if that bastard murdered someone over stupid shit. And then, the constant pressure of not fucking up a case, because if you fuck up, then the world points to you and calls you a worthless piece of shit because a case closed in a way that they didn't want it to be closed."

I try to calm Ze down by gently rubbing his back, however, it doesn't do him any good. After a bit, he turns away from and screams as he punches the brick wall next to us several times. When he stops, he just shakes his hand, and I can see how much it's starting to bleed already. "Ze!"

"It's fine," is all he says before he walks over to the couch and sits down for a bit. "I'm just so tired of people talking shit about police officers. I get that some are bad and are shit people and blah blah blah, but you'll find people like that everywhere. The only difference is that one has a gun, and they risk the chance every day and every night of not coming home... I risk the chance of Mike going to work, and I never get to see him again."

"Ze," I say before I walk over and sit next to him. "You know he didn't mean to throw all of the blame on Mike for what happened in Mini's case. Hell, it wasn't even Mike decision to not go to court."

"Exactly! He has no say in that! All he can do is find the evidence, and figure out who did the crime, that's it!"

"And I'm sure he will realize that later; but right now, he's hurting."

Ze sighs and looks down to his hand. "I know... I just wish I kept my mouth shut."

Just as fast as he sat down, he stands back up. "I should get this cleaned up as soon as I get home."

I nod and stand up as well, gently putting my hand back on Ze's back as we walk to the back door and walk out. However, as soon as we open the door, we're shocked to see everyone still in the parking lot. Not only that, but everyone is still, and they are all staring in one direction. I follow their eyes and let out a loud gasp at what I see before I start running around everyone.

When I finally get to where everyone is looking, I can't help but feel my blood turn cold as I see Tyler, standing next to my car, Brock and Lui standing just a few feet away from him, and Jonathan standing right in front of him.

"How the fuck do you know about all of that shit," Tyler yells at him. "I never told you shit about what happened here!"

"I know," Jonathan calmly says. "That actually why I'm here. I wanted to see," as he talks, I can see his eyes scan around. When they land on me, he stops talking and just gives me a warm smile.

Tyler follows his gaze, but when he sees me, his glare turns ice cold. He then quickly jumps in between Jon and I and pushes him away. "I already told you this shit once, you fucking retard! My co-workers are fucking off limits!"

"Look, Tyler, I'm not here to fight with you. I just wanted to make sure you and Evan were okay."

I feel my heart drop when he says my name and I start to see the gears slowly start to turn in Tyler's head. "What did you just say?"

"I just wanted to make sure that you and Evan were okay."

"How the fuck do you know Vanoss' name?"

Jon looks over to me, and I can only imagine what he is seeing. My horrified expression, my pale face from the blood being drained from my body. However, that isn't enough to stop him from saying, "Because, we've been dating for the last few months."

"You've what," I hear Tyler yell over the loud gasps that no one around us were even trying to hide.

"Look, I know that you don't want us to date for whatever reason, but you need to know. Evan and I have been dating since we met at Luke's party. Or, well, two days after. We've been working out really well. It's a healthy relationship; a few fights here and there, but we talk that shit out. We make each other happy and tell each other everything. He's even given me the courage to come out in our hometown. We honestly love each other."

Tyler stares at Jon for a while before he looks over his shoulder to me. I can see the anger boiling in his eye as he glares at me, making me shrink down to the size of an ant. I suddenly wish that I had gone back into the club when I saw Jon's truck.

"Is that true," Tyler growls at me. I just stare at him, afraid to speak. Afraid of how he will react.

_Now is seriously not the time to be doing this._

"Tell me right now, Vanoss! Is that fucking true," he yells at me, causing me the flinch. My heart is pounding so hard. I feel like I'm shaking. I feel like I could have a panic attack. But somehow, I manage to nod my head, and that makes him look away from me.

"So, you two went behind my fucking back, and dated even after I told the both of you to stay away from each other?"

"Tyler, I get it. You didn't want us to date because thing could get awkward if we were to break up, and you didn't want to be in an uncomfortable thing if we were to break up or whatever, but Evan and I have been really good for each other. Besides, we're all adults here-"

"Shut the fu- wait... did you just say we're all adults here?"

Jon raises an eyebrow, but says, "Yeah. We're all adults here, and we can-"

"Shut the fuck up, you retard!" Tyler turns around to me and asks, "Did you not tell him?"

I feel a lump hit my throat, but I force out the words, "I was going to tell him."

"But you didn't?" I shake my head. Suddenly, Tyler starts shaking his head, and he starts laughing. This honestly scares me more than when he was yelling at us. "Holy fuck, you seriously think your in a fucking healthy relationship with this fucker!"

"What are you talking about," Jon asks, a bit considered.

"This mother fucker has been lying to you, dumbass!"

The pieces quickly fall into place, and I run over and grab Tyler's shoulder. "No, please don't," I beg, but Tyler pushes me behind him with just enough force that I trip over my own feet and hit the ground.

When I look up, I see Jon take a step towards me, but he is stopped by Tyler, who steps in front of us. "How old do you think Vanoss is?"

"What?"

"How old do you think he is?"

"He told me he was twenty-one."

Tyler starts laughing again, which echoes far too much in the packed parking lot. It's then that I can feel everyone's eyes stick to me. "Twenty-one," Tyler laughs as he turns back around and glares at me. "Is that how old you are now? You're old enough to drink and go clubbing all night? Is that it? You're old enough to fuck my friends now?!"

"Tyler please," I beg, trying not to cry as I start to pick myself up.

Tyler turns back to Jon and says, "Well there's something you should know before you put your dick in him if you haven't already. Vanoss has been lying to you about his age."

"What," Jon asks, confused.

"He's not twenty-one. This fucker isn't old enough to drink, or touch alcohol. Hell, he isn't even old enough to fucking vote. He's only seventeen."

"What," Jon asks, laughing. "That's the dumbest piece of bullshit you've ever pulled out of your ass, Tyler."

"You don't believe me," Tyler asks, turning to the side, but keeping his eyes on Jon. He then takes a few steps back, putting us in perfect view of each other as he says, "Why don't you ask him yourself?"

Jon looks over to me, and I melt. His beautiful blue eyes are practically pleading with me to tell him that what Tyler was saying was not true. "Ev?... How old are you?"

I can see hope shining in his eyes. Hope that I'll say twenty-one again. Hope that Tyler is lying. Hope that this is all some sick joke. However... almost everyone around us knows the truth. And the ones who don't... they're about to learn the truth.

Trying to fight back my tears, I keep my eyes locked with his as I say, "... I'm sorry... I wanted to tell you."

Instantly I see that shine dull out of his eyes as they grow wide in shock and horror. I can see that his mind is jumping back to the past few months. Every heated kiss we shared, every make-out session we had, every time he tried to make a move on me and he grabbed my hips or thigh. Every move, every kiss, every grab, every grind, it was all flashing back to him, and he had to cover his mouth before he turned away from me. He started shaking his head before he looked up to Brock and Lui. He then started looking around to everyone around us, and I see his face turn red and then pale.

He then looked back to Tyler and ask, "You've known?"

"Why do you think I didn't want you dating him?"

Jon looked back to me and I can see his beautiful blue eyes turn dark as he turns away and starts to walk away. Tears start to roll down my face as I run after him. "Jon, I'm sorry! Please believe me, I wanted to tell you!" When I catch up to him, I grab his arm, but he instantly pulls it away from me and he turns back to me.

"That's fucking bullshit, Evan," he yells at me. "Don't you dare tell me you were planning on saying shit to me when we've been dating for almost five fucking months! You had plenty of time to tell me the truth, and you fucking hid it from me! I flat out asked you how old you were and you lied to me!"

I flinch when he starts yelling, tears start falling faster, and I can feel my heart pounding so hard that it feels like it's going to break my ribcage. A fire is burning in his eyes, making me shrink even more than Tyler's glare did. I can see a mixture of feelings fueling that fire like dead trees in a wildfire. Anger, hurt, and embarrassment.

"Jon, please, just, let me explain. There's a reason I lied to you."

"I don't want to hear excuses, Evan! I don't want to hear any more lies, or whatever crap you try to pull out of your ass to get you out of this shit!"

"I swear, I'm not pulling anything. Please, just listen to me."

"Why are you even working in a place like this?! Why are you living in those apartments?! Was anything you ever told me true?!"

"I was trying to tell you all of this yesterday, Jon."

"Well, why didn't you?"

"You know why!"

"You could have told me after that!"

"I was in shock!"

"Right, right. And were you in shock over the past four fucking months we were dating?! Were you in shock when you started a fucking fight with me over not telling my family about you when I was still in the fucking closet?!"

I finally break eye contact with him after he says that. "Oh what?! I bring up a good fucking point and you go silent?! You had plenty of time to tell me this, and you stayed quiet! But when I was scared to come out, you still picked a fight with me for not telling my family about you!" He starts walking closer to me, causing me to look back up to him. "Speaking of families, where the fuck is yours?! Do you know how worried they probably are for you?!"

I look back down. "I have an idea for my mom, but I doubt my dad ever cared."

"Oh right; let me guess. Your dad was a hardass on you, and you got pissed off after he yelled at you for something stupid, so you ran away? Is that it?"

"What," I say, looking back up to him. "No! That's not even close!"

"How would I know if that's not true?! Hell, how can I believe anything else that comes out of your mouth?!" He shakes his head and turns away from me again, walking back to his truck. "I can't believe I got fucking played by a stupid seventeen-year-old."

"Stupid," I repeat, feeling my heart start to ache.

"Yes, stupid," Jon turns back to me and yells. "What?! You think because you have your own apartment, own your own car, and work at this place that you're suddenly smarter than the average teenager?! Wrong! No matter what problems you thought you had back at your parents' house, there were a million other things you could have done to fix those problems! You picked the easy way out! And after running away from home, you end up in a place like this, wearing hardly anything night after night, while grown men undress you with their fucking eyes! You're making them even bigger perverts than they really are, and that's fucked up! You could have ruined anyone's fucking life, and out of everyone in the fucking world, you picked me to fuck over! I did a lot of shit to you, but if we went any further, I would be arrested and called a pedophile! I would be on the sex offenders list! The chances of me joining the military would be destroyed! A lot of bunches in the military will tell you that you can never join with something as big as this on your record! You could have literally destroyed my future!"

I suddenly felt sick to my stomach. I felt like I was going to throw up from how crushed I felt from his words. I never wanted any of that to happen. I didn't want to scare him or make him feel like this. _God, I wish I told him sooner._

"Jon, I'm sorry."

"This isn't something a sorry can fucking fix, Evan!" He then unlocks and opens his truck door. "Stay the fuck away from me! If you couldn't fucking tell, we're fucking done!"

After he says that, he jumps into his truck and slams the door shut. Seconds later, I'm stuck, frozen in place as I watch him peel away, driving as fast as he could to get away from me.

I can feel everyone's eyes on me. I can hear whispers all around me. Slowly, I feel my heart beat less and less. I feel it start to crack, piece by piece. I feel my legs start to get weaker by each passing moment. I feel the tears start to gather up in the corners of my eyes, blurring my vision. It isn't until Brock walks up to me and calls my name that I finally break completely. I fall to my knees, feel my heart shatter completely in my chest, and cover my face with my hands as I start sobbing so loudly that it sounds like I'm screaming.

Brock, Lui, and Ze all run over and hug me tightly, all of them trying to claim me down. However, I just keep crying. It feels as if someone ripped my heart out of my chest. I feel as if I've lost everything. Even with everyone around me, I feel so cold and alone.

"You son of a bitch," I suddenly hear Brock yell before he lets me go. I look up and through my blurry vision, I see him run up to someone and slap them across their face, causing a loud smack to echo throughout the parking lot, mixing with my crying. "How could you do something so fucked up?!"

"Fucked up," I then hear Tyler yell. "How can you say what I did was fucked up?! He just fucked my God damn friend!"

"Dated, asshole! Not fucked! Dating someone under eighteen isn't illegal if they are close in age! Three years is still legal! They just couldn't have sex!"

"You expect me to believe-"

"They both had said they never had sex! They did things, but never had sex!"

"Well Delirious deserved to know the truth!"

"Then they should have been taken to the side you should have made Evan tell him! Look around! There are twenty-five people here, and they all watched as your friend was told something they all already knew, and watched him break up with Evan! You know what's worse than finding out that your boyfriend lied to you?! Finding out in front of an audience!"

"S-stop," I stutter out through my tears.

"I only did what I thought was right!"

"Well, there were a million better ways to go about it!"

"S-stop it," I say, a bit louder.

"Look, maybe I didn't do it in the best way possible, but how do you think I fucking feel about learning that two of my fucking friends went behind my back?!"

"Well, you're not winning any best friend awards tonight! After all, you only caused a break-up, humiliated two people, and caused one of them to collapse into a pile of tears in a puddle of oil!"

"Stop it," I say again, louder.

"I get that you're upset about losing Mini, and that your emotions are all on edge, but that doesn't mean you have to be a jackass to the people around you! Especially when they care about you and only want to help you! Jonathan came here because he was worried about how you were doing! Evan has always made it clear that he cares about you! And in return, you break them up! Imagine how Mini would feel if he could see you now!"

"Stop it," I scream out, finally getting them to stop and both turn to me. Tears still pour down my face with no way for me to stop them, but, through them, I say, "It's not his fault. He's right. I shouldn't have said yes to dating Jon. I should have told him the truth. I was being selfish. And now," I can't even finish the last sentence. I just feel my heart get stabbed the more I think about Jonathan's words. And the idea of him actually being gone, it just feels like there is actually a knife that's in my heart and it's being twisted around and around ripping it into pieces.

Ze starts hushing me, petting my hair and holding me close to him, allowing me to rest my head on his shoulder, while Lui hugs me tightly and gently rubs my back.

Footsteps come closer to me and I feel someone slip their hand into my back pocket and pull out my car keys. I don't open my eyes to see who it was, nor do I even care at this point. However, I know that I had nothing to worry about when I hear Brock yell from behind me, "Alright, here's the deal! We are all going back home and we are not going to talk about this when Panda is around! You," Brock yells before I hear him throw something to someone. "I know damn well that you two came together, so I want you to drive Evan's car back to the apartments!"

"Why don't we just leave it here for the night?"

"When has Evan ever left his car here?! He worked every day and saved up his tips for eight months to get that thing! He would never just leave it anywhere overnight!"

I then feel Brock gently put his hand on my shoulder and he tells me, "You'll be okay. I promise." He then asks Ze and Lui, "Can one of you drive him home?"

"I'll do it," Ze instantly volunteers. He and Lui then help get me to my feet and they lead me to Ze's car. They then help me into the car and even buckle me in before shutting the door.

I try to open my eyes, but the burning causes me to close them again, and the continuous twisting knife in my heart just keeps the tears flowing. I pull my knees up and hold them close to my chest, allowing myself to cry into them. The driver side door opens and closes, and Ze reaches over and starts rubbing my back. "Don't worry, buddy. We'll be here for you."

After a minute of just sitting in the car as he rubs my back, telling me that "everything will be okay" and "we're going to be here for you", I finally run out of tears to cry. Putting my feet back on the floor, I look out of the window and see that everyone else drove back to the apartments already. Ze pats my back before he starts up his car and starts the drive back to the apartments. We stay silent for a while, but after a bit, Ze says, "So... you're the Evan Fong."

I know what he means instantly, so I answer, "Yeah. I am." I then look over to him and ask, "Are you going to tell Mike?"

"... I don't know."


	44. The Truth

*Jonathan's POV*

_Final question for this thing; finally! Okay, "how was hospitality important in The Odyssey?" Alright... well, the men made themselves at home in the dude's house and tried to shack up with his wife. They literally eat and drank all his shit and made the place a mess while they expected Evan to..._

I stare at the paper in front of me for a minute, my pen hovering over the sheet I was going to write on once I had my thoughts in order. However, that isn't happening anymore.

"... Penelope... her name was Penelope."

Shaking my head, I drop my pen and start walking around my apartment, trying to put my mind back together. It's been two days since I learned the truth about Evan's age. Since I broke up with him. Since... since I most likely made a huge mistake.

I've been fighting with myself for the last two day. Part of me wants to sit down and try to think this whole thing through. But another part of me just wants to put this whole thing behind me and move on with my life. After all, what I had said wasn't a lie. If I were to have gotten in trouble for doing things with Evan or if I would have had sex with him, my life would be over. My dream of joining the military would be destroyed, and my family would be so disappointed in me that I would be lucky if they didn't disown me this time.

But... I miss him.

No matter how much I focus on the lie and what could have happened, I can't lie to myself. I miss seeing Evan. I miss calling him, texting him, kissing him, everything. No matter how I spin this situation, I can't stop loving him... but at the same time, I don't know if I miss him or the him he was pretending to be.

Groaning loudly, I fall face first into my couch and start screaming into the cushions. My mind and my heart are at war. I knew that Evan had changed my life when he came into it, but I didn't know he would affect me this much. That losing him, even when I was the one breaking up with him, would hurt so much that it would feel like someone was using my heart to make wine. That every thought would somehow include him, even when it has nothing to do with him.

I want to call him, go see him, go beg for him to take me back... but he's so young. Same age as my sister. How could I justify dating him, when I would want the head of a fucker for doing the same to my sister. How can I justify dating him now that I actually know that he isn't legal.

My thoughts thankfully get interrupted by a loud knock at my door. Groaning again, I pick myself up off of my couch and walk over to the front door. When I open the door, I jump back at who I see and try to shut the door in his face, only to have him stop it by putting his hand in the way. I try putting my weight into the door to close it, but the fucker on the other side slams his body into the door a few times and pushes me back until the door is open enough for him to slide in through. I gasp and quickly try to run back to my room, but he grabs me by my shirt and slams me against the wall.

"Tyler, please," I yell out as he slams the door shut with his foot. "I'm sorry! I won't ever go behind your back to date someone ever again! If you say someone is off limits, I won't even dream of looking at them!"

"Damn fucking right you won't ever do this shit again," Tyler growls at me. "But that's not why I'm here," he then says before he throws me to the ground. I look up and watch as he walks past me and he grumbles, "Fucking retard," as he sits on my couch.

Confused, I stand up and walk over, rubbing the hip that I landed on. "Then, why are you here?"

"What; I'm not allowed to see my fucking friends?"

"N-no. That's not what I meant. I mean, I didn't think you would want to see me after-"

"What the fuck is this," Tyler interrupts before he reaches under the coffee table and pulls out the teddy bear Evan got me for Christmas.

I stare at the bear for a few seconds, which is all the time I need to feel my heart start to ache again. However, I sigh and turn away, not wanting to look at the teddy bear anymore. I just walk behind the couch and lean against the back of it, still facing the door. "That's just the present Evan got me for Christmas."

"Wait, Evan got this for you?"

"Yeah."

"... It's literally shit that you like. Horror movies, fucking stuffed bears, that retarded blue hoodie you always wear."

"Well fuck you too."

"What did you get him?"

My eyes suddenly go wide as I remember my present to him. He still has his necklace and mine... I move my hands to the back of my neck and I undo the clip holding the necklace together before I pull it out from under my shirt. I then put the dog tag in my hand and stare at the designs. The heart, and the E for his name...

Shutting my eyes, I pull my hand back and drop it on the couch, feeling my heart drop with it.

I hear Tyler pick up the necklace while I just lock my eyes with the floor, trying not to cry over the fact that I wore that stupid necklace for two days without realizing it. As if I wasn't humiliated enough as it was.

"You got him and yourself matching necklaces?" I just nod. The room goes completely silent for a bit. After a while, I hear Tyler put the stuff down and he asks, "Did you really love him?"

I sigh and shut my eyes, trying desperately not to cry again. "Yeah, I did. I fell for him hard, so this hit me even harder. But, that doesn't matter."

"... I'm sorry."

My eyes shoot open and I look behind me. "What?"

My eyes lock on Tyler and I see him still staring at the doll and necklace, which he had put on the coffee table. "I said, I'm sorry. I was pissed off, and I let my anger get the best of me. I shouldn't have told you everything like that."

"Tyler, why are you apologizing? You didn't do anything wrong."

"Yeah I did," he groans before he stands up and walks around to lean on the couch next to me. "I mean, yeah, I should have told you the truth. Doing that I don't regret, but I should have done it differently. Pulled you and Evan to the other side of the club or in it or some shit. I knew all of the guys there were nosy assholes, it's not like they were trying to hide it, and I knew that after I told you that you would have been freaked out, even if you and Evan didn't have sex... you guys didn't, did you?" I shake my head. "Well, it would have been one thing to tell you. It's completely different to do it in front of a bunch of people."

"It doesn't matter how many people it was in front of or if it was behind closed doors."

"Oh yeah? So you're telling me you would have broken up with Evan no matter what?"

"Most likely."

"Even after you spent how much on the necklace?"

I open my mouth to answer, but nothing comes out. Tyler and I had been friends for a long time, so he knows that spending a lot of money on one person like that is completely out of character for me... but I felt like it was worth it for Evan... I thought he was worth it.

My silences ended up being an answer to him, so he continued. "Look, I came here because I wanted to know if it was true."

"What?"

"All of my friends from the club kept saying they thought Evan really loved you and that I overreacted when I outed him to you... After seeing all of this, I can see clearly that he did and I did."

"No, you-"

"Say I didn't one more fucking time and I will throw you out the god damn window." I bite my lip, knowing the best thing I could do to avoid a fight would be to do what he says. "Look, I've known Evan for over a year, almost two, and I can promise you, the only time he ever buys something for someone, is for their birthday. And even then, he doesn't take it seriously. He's literally given me a purple watch with pink flowers on it." I chuckle a bit. "You laugh, but I'm being serious. He buys everyone joke presents. That bear is the first thing I've seen him give someone something that was actually nice or meaningful... and he did that for you."

I turn my body slightly and look back at the bear. The very one that I had loved so much a week ago, and hated seeing just days ago. The very one... that I threw under my coffee table because I bring myself to throw away... _I was seriously thinking about throwing that thing away..._

Tyler and I both jump in shock when we suddenly hear a loud pounding on the door. Shocked, I look over at Tyler, who just moves back and glares at me. "Don't look at me like that! This isn't my apartment!"

"Yeah, but the last time I opened the door, I got slammed into a wall!"

Tyler groans and pushes me towards the door. "Just go!"

I gulp and walk over to the door, feeling my heart pounding in my chest. I know that this isn't Luke, because he would have kicked open the door by now and I'm not expecting anyone.

Taking a deep breath, I open the door and instantly feel my blood turn cold. "So, I heard you were fucking a minor," Mike says coldly, glaring at me.

I take a few steps back as he walks into my apartment. "No, please, Mike. I can explain. It's not- I didn't-"

Before I can figure out what to say, Mike suddenly breaks character and he starts laughing. "Oh God, the look on your face!"

I stare at him in shock for a bit before I look behind me and see Tyler in a state of shock and confusion. Looking back at Mike, he starts to calm down before he pats my shoulder. "I'm kidding, man. Relax. I'm not here to arrest you or anything. I just want to talk."

"You're fucking evil," I say, shaking my head.

"What? Cops have to have fun too. Also, hey man, I'm Mike."

"I know," Tyler says behind me. "Ze's shown me a picture of you."

"Great; that saves us some time. Now, come here, I have something to show you, Jon. You can join us if you want."

I look back to Tyler and see him shrug before he walks over to the island with me. We then lean against it and watch as Mike walks in front of us and puts a briefcase, which I didn't notice him holding, on the island. He then pulls out a vanilla folder and opens it in front of him. "Look, Steven told me everything, and I need to make sure of this before I tell you anything. So, I'm going to show you two a line up of missing kids, and I want you both to tell me if you recognize anyone in it."

He pulls out a piece of paper and slides it across the table to Tyler and I. We both take a look at it and see no one we recognize. No one, except the last person.

"No way," I say in shock as I stare at the young boy. Dark circles under his eyes, sunken in face. Not even his smile looks the same. His eyes don't have a shine to it. He looks like such a different person...

"That can't be Evan," Tyler says as he stares at the picture. But there's no denying it. His face, although smaller and practical dead, still looks like him.

"What number do you boys think he is," Mike asks.

"Number nine," Tyler and I say together.

We pass him back the paper, he checks it, and then he pulls out a thicker folder from his bag. Tyler and I rush to his side and watch him open the file. "You boy just confirmed the identity of Evan Fong. At the age of fifteen, he literally walked out of his parents' house in the middle of the night and disappeared."

Tyler and I stare at each sheet of paper he flips through as he tells us Evan's story. "Seven years ago, Evan's father, Nathan Fong, lost his job at a motor company. This company worked with hundreds of other motor companies all over the world, however, there was a leak. They lost millions, and one thousand, three hundred people lost their jobs because of it."

"Holy shit," Tyler gasps.

"According to Evan's mother, Nathan fell into a deep depression after not only losing his job but losing a handful of his friends. He ended up searching for a way to escape his pain, and he met a horrible little lady named heroin."

"What," I whisper.

"After several years, his mom was introduced to her as well. By the time Evan was fourteen, he had become numb to everything. Or at least, that's what his mom told us. Neighbors told us that they would hear Evan screaming some nights, but they didn't call the police. They tell us that they would see him with bruises, cuts, and they would see multiple doors thrown away within the span of two years. His friends told us he would beg them to let him have dinner at their homes, and whenever he ate there, he would eat so much that he would get sick."

"Oh my god."

"The police from his town actually thought Evan was better off lost than with them. They never even updated this case past the interviews with Evan's teachers. The only thing they got was that Evan had used his friend's mom's uber account to get him all the way here. However, it was in the downtown area. After that, he was completely gone."

"That's bullshit," Tyler says as he flips through the police report. "They could have given him to Child's Protective Service, another family member, anything! Why would they just leave him on the streets?"

"Because," Mike continues. "He wasn't in their destination anymore. He was in ours and the cops originally assigned to his case pushed it to the side. There wasn't a lot for us to go off of, they didn't even know if he was still in the city, and there were more cases that needed to get taken care of.  
However, when I came in and heard about this case, I knew that I needed to take it. I wasn't expecting to actually find him this fast though... to be honest, I thought I was going to be looking for a dead body instead of a missing person."

He then looks over to Tyler. "I wasn't expecting to also find out that a certain club and its long term employees were hiding him from us though."

"That wasn't by choice, really," Tyler tells him, looking down.

"What do you mean?"

He sighs before he says, "I... I can't say."

"What do you mean?"

"Tyler," I say, feeling worried but his reaction. "What's going on?"

He looks at me and turns away, his hands turning into fists that are shut so tightly that they turn white. "Look, I just- I can't say anything. Can we just drop this already?"

"But it makes no sense. Why wouldn't you talk about it?"

"Because I can't you fucking retard! If I talk about half of the shit that happens at the club, I could lose my job!"

"What? Your boss can't do that."

"In my boss's words, 'it's my club, my rules. If you don't like it, you can get the fuck out of here and say goodbye to any friends you made here'. Now I'm not going to say this again; let's fucking drop this, or I'm out of here!"

Mike sighs and says, "It honestly worries me that all of you act the same."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?!"

"I mean that you're not the only person from the club that I've spoken to. I've talked to employees, former employees, and employees that were in the hospital, and all of you seem so closed off and afraid to speak about anything that even comes close to talking about the club."

"We have our fucking reasons, okay! Let's fucking drop it already!" Tyler then looks over to me. "Jon, what are you thinking about with Evan right now?"

"What," I ask, confused by what he means.

"Look, this was a lot to take in, and it came from a fucking cop and it's all on file, so we have to take it in as fact unless someone proves it wrong. We now know why Evan ran away from home. You now know about his past. Has that changed your opinion on him?"

"It's actually a good thing that you changed the subject to that," Mike then says as he turns to me. "I forgot to mention, but Steven begged me to do this. He wanted me to see how you were and to tell you about Evan's past. He also begged me not to take Evan back to the station and start to paperwork to get him back to his hometown."

"Really," I ask, surprised by the last comment.

"Yes... it honestly wouldn't matter too much either way. He's going to be eighteen in three months. It honestly would feel like a waste of time for me to do the paperwork now, only for him to leave wherever I put him three months later."

"But, what about his mom? Wouldn't she want to see her son again? And Evan's missing person-"

"I think it's obvious that Evan is a special case, so just leave the paperwork to me. But you still need to tell us, how do you feel about Evan? Do you love him? Do you hate him? What do you want to do with him?"

"..."


	45. Training

"You don't need to go in if you don't want to you know," Ze tells me with concern laced in his words.

"Actually, he does," Brock says. "We've been telling Panda that Evan has been sick this whole time. It's been a week now. Any longer, Panda is going to make us take him to the hospital."

"It's fine," I sigh before I pick up my keys from the counter. "I want to go back."

"Why though," Ze asks. "You know you don't need to if you still don-"

"I said it's fine," I yell at him, causing him to flinch. I take a deep breath and look away from everyone. "I just... I don't want to stay here anymore... I want to forget about Jon for just one day... I'm hoping work will help me forget about everything for just a few hours."

Ze sighs and pats my shoulder. "Alright, just... Just let me know if you need some time alone. I'll keep one of the VIP rooms open for you."

"Thanks," I say, keeping my head down.

It's now been exactly a week since Jon broke up with me, and I've honestly never been more of a mess than I have been now. I haven't been willing to eat; Brock, Ze, and Lui have literally forced me to eat after the third day. I haven't been willing to sleep; I only sleep when my body forces me to or when the guys make me take sleeping pills. The pain in my chest still hasn't gone away... Ze said it will eventually... I don't know if I believe him anymore.

Anyways, after Brock and Ze grab their things, they walk with me out into the courtyard, where we meet up with Lui. The three of them then talk around me while we all walk into the parking lot. I can tell that they are all worried about me, but none of them want to say it... _Just say something already._

When we get to our cars, I quickly get into my car, fixing the mirrors and the seat to where I need them, and then I start driving to the club. As I drive, I try to keep my mind busy with music or going over a checklist in my head about what I need to do the second I get to work, but it always drifts off to Jon... _Why is it so hard to keep him off of my mind..._

Once I get to the club, I don't even wait for anyone else. I just walk in, change into the uniform, and get straight to work. However, even though I had gotten to work before Brock, Ze, and Lui, I couldn't help but notice them running around me so much as I set up the bar. It wasn't until I had finished and looked at the time that I realized why they were moving so fast. The time was moving faster than me... An hour had passed, and I only did one of the many things I normally did.

This starts to frustrate me. I shouldn't be slow. I shouldn't be thinking about Jon this much! I shouldn't be crying so much! I shouldn't have to be fed! _**What the fuck is wrong with me?!**_

"Okay everyone," I hear Panda yell out from the stage. Holding back my tears, I walk around the bar and line up with everyone else. The same shit as always happens, and then we are released. However, I'm stopped when I hear Panda asking me to go back to his office. I could only guess why he wants to see me, so the bullshit of the flu jumps to mind.

Taking a deep breath, I walk over to the door the dancers use and walk into the hall, up the stairs, and into his office. When I walk in, he is just walking over to his bar. He looks over his shoulder and says, "You definitely don't look like yourself. That bug must have kicked the shit out of you."

I sigh and look down to my feet. "Yeah... It was the flu."

"Really now? I didn't know that the flu could talk."

I raise an eyebrow and look up to him, seeing him pouring himself a glass of whiskey. "What do you mean, sir?"

"What I mean," he says as he puts the bottle down. "Is that I leave only five minutes after you boys are supposed to leave. However, as I went to double check that the door was locked, I heard Steven screaming in the back. Then, when I went to lock up the back door, I couldn't help but notice everyone still in the parking lot, and I hear some punk screaming at you about lying to him." My eyes widen and I feel a lump form in my throat. "Sit down on the couch," he then orders me.

Fear hits me hard in the stomach. I don't know what he's going to do, or what he's going to say. All I know is that nothing good can come from this.

However, even with my blood turning into ice, I walk to the couch and sit down, keeping my head down and looking straight at my lap.

"Why don't you start by telling me who was breaking up with you that night? I didn't even know you had a boyfriend."

I gulp, but tell him the story. Starting from meeting Jon at the party, moving on to the next two days after, and fast forwarding to the night we lost Mini, and ending with that night. After I tell him, he walks over and places two drinks in front of me.

"So, you were dating a college student, lied about your age, and Tyler outted you after he found out about you two?" I nod. He hums to himself before I hear him walk behind me, sliding his hand onto my shoulder. "I guess you deserved that. After all, you could have ruined this boy's life."

I shut my eyes tightly, not wanting to cry again. "I know... I was selfish."

"Not selfish, Evan. You just did something stupid, but now you know better. After all, we all make mistakes. Some just bigger than others." I open my eyes and look towards the drinks. "You're only a few months away from turning eighteen, so I trust that this type of mistake will not happen again, right?" I nod my head. "Then that is all that matters."

I look over my shoulder, back to him and I ask, "Was this all that you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Yes, but while you're here, I guess I might as well ask now."

"Ask what?"

I feel him gently start to massage my shoulder as he then asks, "Have you thought about my offer?" I instantly turn back around to the drinks and feel my body tense up. "I'll take this reaction as you have?"

"No- well yes, but-," I groan loudly and throw my body back, making him pull his hand away. "I thought I knew what I was going to do. I thought I had an idea of what I wanted for the future... But now... I just don't know anymore."

"So, let me get this right. You had an answer already made, but then something happened, like maybe losing another friend or perhaps a break-up, and now you don't know anymore?"

I sigh and shut my eyes. "It sounds stupid, but yeah."

"That's not stupid at all, Evan."

I open my eyes and look up, seeing him looking down at me. "It isn't?"

"Not at all. It was the events that happened in my life that made me decide to open the club. It only makes sense that the events of yours would affect your decision."

"But... A break-up?"

"So that's the main factor? Either way, just like how it affected you over the past week, it will affect how you move forward. Like I told you before, you don't need to make your final decision until your eighteenth birthday. So think about it some more."

I nod and sit up a bit, looking back down towards the glasses. They both look dark, but too light to be a soda... And they're both... In double shot glasses

"Take one," Panda then tells me. "They're both the same. Fireball."

My eyes widen. "You're offering me whiskey?"

"You've been gone for a week, Evan. You expect me to believe you feel all better after that long? No. I know you're probably still hurting and looking for a way to drown the pain. So, go ahead. Take a sip."

I stare at the drinks and slowly put my hand out. I haven't had a drink of alcohol since the night Jon took me out to meet his friends, and I can't remember anything past...

I reach out and take one of the glasses before I bring it to my mouth, throwing the entire drink back. As the drink flows down my body, I feel a bit of burning from the cinnamon, or maybe that's the alcohol. Whichever it is, the burning causes my body to shiver a bit. This causes Panda to chuckle at my reaction before he reaches over and takes the other glasses, throwing it back and letting out a satisfied sound.

"You'll get used to that sooner or later."

He then takes the glasses and walks over to the bar, pulling out two bigger glasses and filling both of them halfway with rum. "I'm going to assume you don't really want to work today."

I shake my head and reach out after he walks over to me, handing me the rum. "Not really. I just want to get my mind off of Jonathan. If he really wants nothing to do with me, I don't have a choice but to accept that... And why would he want to be with a stupid seventeen-year-old that almost ruined his life?"

"You're not stupid, Evan," Panda says before he sits next to me. He then slides his arm around my shoulder, pulling me in close before he gently rubs it. "You made a stupid mistake. That's all. Call it a stupid action, but don't call yourself stupid."

I take a deep breath and push back the tears that want to make their way out before I take a sip of the alcohol. "Do you want to just hang out up here," Panda then asks me.

I look up to him and ask, "But shouldn't I at least be doing something for work?"

"Well, even though you wouldn't need to make any decisions until after your eighteenth birthday, why don't we start your training?"

"Training?"

"Yes. Why don't we start training you to become a manager? After all, you still have a lot to learn."

"But... I've been-"

"Trust me, having a few drinks in you won't make this bullshit any harder. Come on, it wouldn't hurt to get started, right?"

I look back down to the drink and think his offer over a bit before I look back to him and nod. He gives me a smile before patting my shoulder and standing up, starting to walk over to his desk. I get up and follow him over and lean against the side of his desk as he sits at it.

He chuckles and pulls me over to him before he makes me sit in his lap. "There won't be enough room for any of my chairs back here, so for now, this will have to do." I just nod and look towards his computer screen as he opens up several files. I watch and listen as intently as I can as my head starts to spin a little bit, giving me a dizzy feeling. I'm starting to feel my buzz... _I might need to ask him to go over all of this with me tomorrow._


	46. Pushing

A few weeks have gone by since I started training for the manager position at the club, and things have been getting so much better. I'm starting to get happy to go to work again, I'm starting to take care of myself again, and I've finally stopped thinking about Jon... Well, not fully.

Every once in a while, he'll pop up again. I would like to say that when this happens it didn't bother me, however, that would be a lie. The truth would be that every time I think about him, I miss him more and more. It honestly feels like my heart is getting crushed every single time he comes up. Ze said the pain would stop... I wish I knew when.

Letting out a sigh, I step out of my car and walk towards the club with a smile on my face. The second I walk in, I don't even change my clothes; I just run to Panda's office. Once I walk into the room, he smiles at me and pushes over the clipboard with everyone's name on it. At the moment, I somewhat feel like his assistant, however, I happily do everything he asks, knowing that I'll have to do everything myself someday soon.

Taking the clipboard, I walk over to the window and mark down everyone who's here today. Afterward, I start ordering who I think would be better to go on stage and when, and since I've watched everyone go on several times before, and I know their styles when they take the pole, I order it from the lowest energy to the highest energy, putting up a high energy pair to be our closing performance.

Once I have the list completed, I walk over to Panda's desk and hand him the clipboard. "You know your list are all starting to look the same, right," Panda asks with a raised eyebrow. I nod and bite my cheek.

"I thought it would be a good idea to have everything end with a high engery routine."

"That isn't a bad idea on paper, but you need to think about the dancers and the customers. These dancers that will always be opening, they are going to be getting fewer tips than the closing dancers. If that keeps up long enough, they will start to complain and they will want to leave to go somewhere that could offer them more time on the pole. And with the closing hours, you need to remember the state everyone will be in. The customers will be drunk off their asses. If they constantly get high engery, it could make them hyper. This will risk them doing something stupid that could hurt themselves or people around them, or get them arrested for stupid ass shit.  
I get what you're trying to do, but remember that you have to add alcohol and tips into this list. So as weird as it will look going from someone like Brock to Lui, it's better to make that little mix up to keep people happy."

I nod as he talks and take notes of everything that he tells me. Once he's done, I take the clipboard back and start rearranging the names. After a minute, I look over the list and hand it back to Panda, who looks it over and nods in approval. "That's more like it. You're picking up on everything fast, Evan. I'm proud of you," he then says as he pats me on the back.

I smile and thank him and ask him if there was anything else he wanted me to do, but before he could answer, we hear the door to his office open. We look towards the door and see one of our dancers, who we call Bunni, take a few steps in and stop, staring at me with giant eyes.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you were busy! I'll come back later!"

He turns away and starts closing the door, but soon stops when Panda says, "No need. Come back. Vanoss is going to be in here all night, so if you need something, you're better off telling me what you need now."

Bunni turns back and looks over to me before he walks over to the desk, his head hanging low. When he is right in front of the desk, he then starts to stretch his arm, nervously. "I... I'm out... And... I'm not going to get in trouble for asking in front of Vanoss, am I?"

Panda sighs and shakes his head. "No; I told you to come and tell me what you needed after all." He then reaches over to the right side of his desk and messes with a lock that I never really noticed he had on his desk before. Then again, I never came back here before, and whenever he needed to pull something out from his desk, he had always pulled it out from the left. It was a small peice of detail that I never noticed before.

After he messes with the lock, he opens the drawer and looked back to Bunni. "What did you need?"

Bunni then smiles a weird, somewhat creepy smile as he then says, "LSD."

My jaw drops and I snap my head around to look at Panda. I watch as he then reaches into the drawer and pulls out a box before he throws it to Bunni. "Make that last. I don't want to see you back here at any point this month for more of that shit."

"Yes, sir! Thank you, sir!" Bunni then quickly runs out of the room, shutting the door behind him, leaving Panda and I alone.

I just stare at him in shock and horror as he calmly shuts the drawer and puts the lock on it. He then takes a deep breath before saying, "I wish I had a better way of telling you this."

I blink and shake my head. "The guys... They've been getting this shit from you?"

"They didn't always get it from me. We had a regular that would stop by just for the boys. Never sat at the tables. He only got into the VIP rooms.  
However, the son of a bitch fucked the boys over with a few bags. I'm worried that he may have caused Bryce's and Brock's overdoses. After I started suspecting shit, I found a guy to buy from. So, I buy the shit, watch the dude as he gets it to me to make sure he doesn't fuck with it, and then I sell it to the guys."

"Why didn't you just ban it all together?"

"I told you why, Evan. And even if I were to stop selling to them now, I would then have to worry about them buying from somewhere else and getting ripped off again and possibly dying."

"Well, how can you trust that this guy won't fuck you over?"

"Well, for one thing, he's a pharmacist. Pushing drugs is his job no matter what, and fucking someone over and possibly killing them when they are your best customer is a bad move to make. Plus, as I said, I watch him when he gets everything packaged and weighed out."

I gulp and stare at the drawer. "I... I-"

"Look, Evan," he then says, turning to face me and taking my hands. "I know drugs are something you can't stand, but it is a huge part of the club's life. Dancers have to go through a lot, and drugs help calm them down."

I start thinking about everything he told me before, and a question comes to mind. "... Did you ever use?"

"No. My mother did and all of her friends, I think I remember some of my old coworkers use to as well, but I never used. And you won't have to either if you don't want to." He then puts his hand on my shoulder and gives it a little squeeze. "I know you hate them, but in this field, you can't fight against them. You can make a rule in your own building where they can't do anything in front of you, but that's the best you can do."

I sigh and hang my head before I think back to the day of Mini's attack. Think about how those men treated us. Treated him...

"I understand... And if they feel like they need all of that crap in their bodies... I won't try to stop them."

I then look up as Panda stands straight up and wraps his arms tightly around me. I hug him back and soon after, he starts to rub my back. "You've grown up so much, Evan. I'm proud of you."

I blush lightly before I start to pull away. "Was there anything else you wanted me to do, sir?"

"Oh please Evan," he starts as he pulls his chair back and sits back down. "We're going to be partners someday soon. Please, call me Anthony."

I gulp a bit before I say, "Okay. Was there anything else you wanted me to do, Anthony?"

"Of course," he then says before he rolls backward and opening one of his filing cabinets. "I'm going to go tell everyone the order they'll go on for the night. So if you could, I need you to start going over all of these." He then pulls out several files filled with sheets of paper.

He puts them on his desk before he reaches over and takes the clipboard. "What is all of this," I ask, grabbing the first file.

"These are resumes for a security position. I need you to just check the experience of these guys and separate them into three groups. One for people who have experience as a security guard, one for people who have experience as cops, and one for people with no experience at all."

"Alright, sir. I can do that." He then puts his hand on my shoulder and gives it a squeeze. "Oh, I'm sorry. Alright, Anthony. I can do that."

He then pats my shoulder before he walks around me, and I take a seat at his desk. "I should be back up here in five minutes. That should give you a good start."

"Alright, Anthony," I simply reply before I open the first file.


	47. Set Up

"This is so unreal," Brock says in shock.

Apparently, Bunni couldn't keep his mouth shut last night, and he told everyone in the club about me being in Panda's office this entire time. Out of curiosity, Brock, Ze, and Lui dragged me out of bed this morning for coffee, breakfast sandwiches, and gossip. A fun way to start a morning, if the gossip isn't about me.

However, they asked, and I couldn't hide it. "It's true," I tell them. "Panda is officially training me to become the new manager of the club."

"This is so awesome," Lui practically yells into my ear before he hugs me. "I'm so proud of you! Soon you'll be eighteen, have a manager position!"

"Not to mention he promised a partnership with you," Brock adds.

"This is seriously the best thing that could ever happen to you," Lui yells out as he tightens his hold on me.

"Or it could be the worst," Ze then says, causing all of us to look towards him.

"What do you mean it could be the worst," Lui asks, letting me go.

"He's only going to eighteen. He hasn't explored much outside of this field, nor has he been around people his age. Being a manager is a lot of work, and a lot of managers don't normally go to college."

"Well, why would he want to go to college? He's going to have the club, which is already doing well thanks to Panda."

"So he should give up on college? Give up on high school? Just for the club?"

"For a guaranteed job and stabled future? Yeah!"

"It's not guaranteed to be stable, though. A million things could happen that could ruin the club. Brock, come on. You have to agree that school is the best path for him, right?"

We then look at Brock. "Actually," Brock then starts, looking down at his lap. "I think it would be best for him to drop out and focus on the club."

My jaw drops when he says this. Throughout all my time knowing Brock, this is the last thing I would have expected to hear from him. _Why would he..._

"What the hell do you mean," Ze yells at him. "Why would you want Evan to keep working in a place like that?!"

"Well," Brock starts, but I can't help but notice his eyes are constantly moving, avoiding us. He doesn't want to look at us. "Evan wouldn't be put in danger if he isn't on the pole or on the floor. He has been away from everyone since Panda's started training him. I just think, you know, that would be for the best."

I can't help but stare at Brock in shock the more he talks, making me feel more and more like something is wrong. "You guys are fucking crazy," Ze then says as he stands up.

"We're crazy," Lui jumps in to argue. "We're being happy and supportive to our friend for getting an opportunity he worked his ass off for. You've only been here for a few months. We've been here since before Evan got here, and we've supported him throughout that entire time, wanting nothing for the best for him."

"If you think this is best for him, then you're so far in the wrong! He deserves so much better than this! Better than us!"

"Guys stop it," I yell out, making them all stop and look towards me. "Whatever happens is my decision, right? Then... Then let me decide what's best for myself. I don't want to hear any of you fighting over this shit anymore."

They all nod their heads in agreement, but soon after I speak, Ze grabs his coffee and walks out of the cafe. I look back to Brock and Lui, and something just tells me staying isn't the "best for me", so I grab my coffee and run after Ze. He and I start walking toward the parking garage his car was in, but neither of us say anything for a bit. That is until we are right in front of the garage.

He then stops and asks me, "What do you think about staying at the club? I remember you were taking online classes and were really excited about the idea of going to college before. Do you still want to do all of that?"

I sigh and lean against the wall next to us. "I don't know anymore. Honestly, part of me loves the idea of me taking over the club, but another part of me feels like it's not for me anymore. I don't know what I should do..."

I look over to Ze and I can see the gears turning in his head as he tries to think of something to either say or do. After a few seconds, those gears click into the right slots, turning on a lightbulb in his head. He then smiles at me and tells me to wait here before he runs around the corner.

Pulling out my phone, I start messing around online, jumping from social media site to social media site. I stop, however, when I see the name of an article pop up on one of the sites.

_** "Six Clubs Shut Down in the Past Year" ** _

My eyes widen and I quickly click on the link and I start reading the article.

_"The club life seems to be in grave danger in this once nightlife-topia. The police have been hard at work clearing out each and every club, including the many strip clubs we have in our bustling city, and forcing them to close their doors for good, but for good reason._  
In the past year, a total of six clubs have been raided and shut down by the hands of police for several horrible reasons. The first club targeted was the nightclub, Slipout. The owner of which had been caught raping unconscious women and men in the bathrooms of the club and allowing underage teenagers to walk in if they matched the dress code of "short skirts" or "lots of skin", according to a former employee for the club.  
The second club targeted was the nightclub, Luxx, which was shut down for allowing their bartenders to accept bribes, allowing an unknown amount of women and men to be drugged. If you are a possibly a victim, please call in. The case against the club is still growing, and police are more than happy to help you find your way on the road to recovery.  
Although those two alone were difficult to take down, they managed to do this by the fall. By winter, three more clubs were taken down. These being a third nightclub and two strip clubs. The nightclub, T, was shut down after undercover police caught the owner and manager selling illegal narcotics.  
The first strip club shut down was the club, Lust, which was shut down for prostitution. The second strip club shut down was the club, World Tails, which had become popular for the cultural diversity, however, hid a disturbing secret. The owner and manager of the club had taken women from all over the world with the promise of a wonderful life, only to have everything stolen from them. Their passports were taken from them, their families were threatened, and they were forced into stripping and prostitution for their freedom. This, unfortunately, isn't a unique story either.  
This leads us to the start of this year. Although we are only three months in, it hasn't stopped them from shutting down yet another club. This most recent club, The Vanity, was shut down after the club owner was catch drugging and kidnapping women and selling them into human trafficking. This club has already been linked to the disappearance of ten women, and we fear that as the investigation into The Vanity continues, more will pop up.  
This now leads us to many more questions. What will happen to each and every single one of the monsters behind these stories? We can only hope for prison, but we may not know until much later.   
What will happen to these clubs that were shut down? Rumor has it that some people are looking to buy these buildings, but we also have heard that the city is planning to destroy each and every single one of them in order to give the building a fresh start. So if you're wondering where your tax dollars are going this year, we may have that answered as well.  
And now, the question many of you are probably now asking, what's next? Are there any more clubs that the police have their eyes on? Are there any more horror stories to come as the year goes on. Unfortunately, we do not have the answers to that question. When asked, the chief of police refused to answer. However, time will only tell us what will happen to the rest of the bright, busy buildings that make up our city's nightlife." 

After reading the article, I shake my head and slip my phone back into my phone. _Six clubs... All shut down in one year for so many horrible things..._

Shocked, I look over to where Ze had gone and see him turning the corner and jogging up to me with a smile on his face. When he comes up to me, he grabs my arm and says, "Come on; we're going to my place."

He then starts dragging me into the parking garage. "Jeez, calm down! Why are you in such a big rush to go back to the apartments?"

"Not there, Evan."

When he says that, my eyes widen and I pick up speed to somewhat match his. I had never been to his home in the downtown area before, and now I'm excited to see where he and Mike have been staying.

Once we get to his car, we jump in and quickly pull out to start the drive deeper into the city. After about ten, maybe fifteen minutes, we pull up to a complex that makes my jaw drop. "You guys live in these townhouses?"

"We need to. Apartments are too small for what we have. Plus, its only a five-minute drive to the precinct from here."

He pulls his car into a spot before turning it off and jumping out. I follow after him as he walks up to one of the townhouses with a garage connected. He unlocks the door and walks in with me following after, and I start to scan the room. A simple couch and coffee table are in the middle of the room with a flat screen on the wall in front of it. Under that, I notice old TV stand with multiple gaming consoles on it. Next to it are multiple shelves with older and newer games and controllers stacked on it. All of which causes my jaw to drop.

I then follow Ze to the next room which has stairs to lead up to the second floor, another couch that is sitting in front of a fireplace, a dining table with four chairs around it, and a simple kitchen. As I look around, I hear Ze opening the back door, and by the time I turn around, he had opened it and a big black and white husky runs in and starts jumping on me.

I practically fall to the ground from the weight of the dog, but I just laugh and start petting him. "That's Mike's dog, Havoc. Well, I guess he's mine too, but Mike got him before we got together."

"He's so cute and friendly!"

Ze laughs before he pulls Havoc off of me. He then looks upstairs before he tells me, "There are only three rooms upstairs. The bathroom, the office with computers for both Mike and I, and our bedroom." I raise an eyebrow. "I noticed you looking, might as well tell you what's up there."

I nod before I then ask, "Why did you bring me here?"

"To help get your mind off of everything. I mean, you saw the TV room, we have a bunch of games you and I could play to help take your mind off of the club and the guys. We have Havoc, and what better way to distract yourself from the world than to mess with a dog?"

I look down at Havoc and smile when I see him just staring up at me, tail wagging. "Thank you, for wanting to help."

Ze then lets go of Havoc before he gives me a hug. After, he and I walk into the TV room and start up a game of Mario Kart. Before we know it, an hour goes by and we haven't really moved from the couch nor have our places have changed in the game. At this point, I'm just so done with losing that I aim to take him out of first place for one fucking round. However... Rainbow Road is a bitch.

After losing yet another race, I prepare for another match, but we stop when we hear the garage door open, causing Havoc to jump off the couch and run to the door. Ze just laughs and stands up. "Give me a minute." Placing the controller on the coffee table, he walks around and goes to the garage door that is just in front of the stairs. When he opens the door, he happily says, "Hey babe, welcome back." I hear him and Mike giggle as they kiss and walk into the room.

"It's so good to see you again."

I put my controller down and stand up to go say hi as well, but stop when I hear someone say, "Damn, you guys have a nice place."

My eyes widen and my heart drops all at once. My stomach starts to twist and my breath gets caught in my throat. At first, I thought I had to be hearing things, but when Jon steps into view and locks eyes with me, I know that it is all too real.

Jon and I just stare at each other, unsure of what to say or do. I'm trying to get a read off of him, but I can't come up with anything. I can't read his emotions or see if he's still angry at me... And that is scaring me.

"Well, why don't you guys get comfortable," Mike then says before he pushes Jon into the TV room. "Steven and I haven't seen each other for almost a week, so we're going to take Havoc on a little walk and make out a bit."

"Shut the fuck up, Mike," Steven then says before he grabs Mike's arm and pulls him aw. Before Jon or I knew it, they were gone with the dog, just leaving us alone.

I gulp and look at Jon at the same time he turns to look back to me. I feel my heart pounding heavily in my chest as fear coursed through my veins. Before I can even fully think or he could get the chance to process what is happening, I quickly say, "I-I didn't ask them to do this, and I know you don't want anything to do with me, but before you leave, please understand that I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry for lying to you. I'm sorry I almost got you in trouble. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner but believe me, I wanted to. There's just so much you don't understand, and I wanted to-"

Before I can finish saying what I wanted to say, Jon walks up to me and covers my mouth with his hand, stopping me. He then takes a deep breath before he says, "I'm sorry." I stare at him, shocked and confused for a few seconds before he continues. "I'm sorry for how I broke up with you.... and I'm sorry for breaking up with you at all... Will you be honest with me right now?" I nod my head and he takes his hand away. "Are you... are you really the Evan Fong that Mike has been looking for?" I nod my head again. "...So... it's true then?... You're homelife from before you ran away... Your parents were addicts?"

I look away and bite my cheek, not wanting to say it, but at the same time knowing that I need to. "Y-yeah... my parents were addicted to heroin."

"So... they really abused you too?"

"No," I instantly answer.

"But, the file Mike showed me said that your old neighbors would hear you screaming in pain some night. What was happening to you if your parents weren't abusing you?"

"My parents loved me," I tell him, crossing my arms and wrapping my hands around my biceps. "They would never hurt me or allow anyone to hurt me."

"That doesn't-"

"But heroin didn't care about me." Jon stops talking and just stares at me, confused by what I mean. "Heroin didn't care if I had to walk home in the freezing cold or on the hottest day of the year. It didn't care if I needed to get to school every day. It didn't care if I needed money for food, or if I was at someone else's house for days or weeks, but suddenly cared when the parents of my friends started asking questions. It didn't care if I was in my room, sobbing and shaking in fear... It actually hated hearing that more than anything..."

Jon then understood what I was saying. "You're separating your parents with the drug."

I nod my head. "I know that they chose to do it in the first place," I say as tears start to build up. "But I know that my parents were still in there. If not, then my mom wouldn't have gone to the police, right? That told me that I was right. When on that fucking drug, my mom didn't even know where she was, let alone where I was half the time. So for her to go to the police before the school, saying that I was missing means she was finally waking up. That she was finally fighting back. That she was ready to fight for her life back... for me back."

"....You ran away in hopes of your parents getting clean?" I nod my head. "But, why? There were so many more things you could have done differently. You could have could have gone to the police or your teachers and-"

"And what," I yell, causing him to jump back. "And gotten taken away from my parents while they were thrown in prison for drug possession?! Be put into a group home or foster care and risk getting someone who wouldn't give a shit if I was dead or alive?! Have you ever read any horror stories that have come out from people taken away by CPS?! Because I have! I did look into it, and after reading about toddlers being murdered and teenagers being raped or molested by people who are supposed to take care of you while your parents are going through the court, I didn't want to go through it! I didn't want to risk it!"

"But, Evan, you could have gone somewhere safe."

"I didn't want to risk it... and I didn't want my mom or dad thrown in jail."

He puts his hand on my shoulder and makes me look up to him. "But you put yourself in so much danger by leaving the way you did. There are so many things that could have happened to you, and there have been so many things that have happened to you. Why would you want this instead of just going into a group home for three years?"

"... Well, if I was in a group home... I wouldn't have met you." 

Jon blushes a bit and looks away from me, pulling his hand away from my cheek. "I'm sorry for not telling you sooner, Jon... It's just... without knowing about what I went through, it would have been hard to understand why I left. I wanted to tell you everything before, but I was scared about how you would react, and I didn't want you to think my parents were all bad. They honestly were the best before they started using... but I should have told you."

"... When your friend died last month... you were going to tell me then, right?"

"Yeah."

Jon sighs and turns away from me, running his hands through his hair as he curses to himself. I look down and just sit against the arm of the couch, still holding my arms. 

Soon Jon walks back over before he says, "Well, even still, we can't change what's happened... and in all honesty... I don't know what to do with you."

"What do you mean," I ask, looking back up to him.

"I mean, I... even after finding out that you lied to me and after I recognized all the ways your fucking stupid actions could have completely ruined my life... I still love you."

My eyes widen and I feel my cheeks heat up. "What?"

"I don't know what it is about you... but I just can't get you off of my mind. I tried reminding myself of how fucked I would be if Mike wasn't so cool... But I just can't stop loving you."

He groans and leans back against the wall in front of me. "I just don't know what to do with you! I want to move on, but you seem to haunt me like a god damn ghost! I try to focus on what I want and my plans for the future... But I want you and I can't get a future with you out of my head. But if I were to be with you, even if you're only two months away from being eighteen, it could only be a day before and it would still be enough for me to get in trouble."

He pushes his head back and looks up to the ceiling. "I just... don't know what to do."

I stare at him in shock. Shocked to hear him say all these things. Shocked to know just how much he still cares about me...

Without thinking, I push myself off of the couch and walk closer to him. Putting my hands on the sides of his face, I wait for him to look down to me before I lean up and kiss him. It was only going to be a little peck, but as I start to pull away, he leans down after me and kisses me back. We both pull away for a second and look into each other's eyes, before we close our eyes and close the gap between us, pressing our bodies together as we go back in for another kiss, this one quickly getting heated.

His hands jump to my hips and slowly and gently wrap around my waist, while mine instantly wrap tightly around his neck. The world starts to slow down and melt away from us as we focus only on each other. All of our worries disappear for this one moment. There's no club. There's no break-up. There's nothing. Just us.

However, as quickly as this started, it was ripped away from me as Jon roughly grabs my shoulders and he pushes me away from him. He then yells and walks away from me. "Fuck! Stop it! Fucking hell!"

His reaction causes me to jump back, and I instantly start to regret what I had done. "I'm sorry," I softly say before I turn away from him and lean against the wall, trying to keep my tears in.

I then hear him sigh loudly before he says, "I'm sorry. I'm not yelling at you, Ev. I'm... I'm yelling at myself." I look over my shoulder and see him walk over to the couch Ze and I had just been sitting on, and watch him sit down. "This has been my problem. I'll try to stop thinking about you, or my mind will wonder, or I'll be working on something, and then you still manage to come up, and your age comes to mind shortly after. And when I think about your age, I just can't stop thinking about how much trouble I could get in. I start thinking about how wrong it is for me to think about you in the ways I have in the past... I start thinking about how I would kill a twenty-year-old if they thought of my sister the same way I think of you... It's so fucked up, but it's eating me up and making my mind and heart fight every damn day! And I don't know how to make it stop!"

He then puts his heads into his hands and he groans loudly. I can feel his frustration, and now I can see why Ze and Mike brought us together. He and I are struggling with something huge for us. For me, it's the club and my future; and for him... It's me and his.

I walk over and move the controllers out of the away before I sit in front of him on the coffee table. I then peel his hands off of his face and hold them both tightly. "Jon... I still love you so much. And it honestly hurts me to see you like this... You were right about all of the things my selfish decisions could have done, and I would never want to hurt you like this. I would hate myself so much if I ruined what you worked so hard for.  
So... Maybe it's best that I leave. I don't want you to worry about me. I promise I'll be fine. All I want is for you to worry about yourself, and worry about your future. Your dream." I then lean in and kiss him one last time before I stand up and walk towards the door. I try not to cry as I open and shut it as I walk out of the townhouse and start looking around, looking for Ze. At this point, I just want to find him and go back to the apartments.

However, as I look around, I hear the door swing open and hear Jon run over to me before he grabs my waist and spins me around to face him. He then leans in and kisses me, leaving me shocked.

_Someone could see us! His future!_

I quickly push him away, but before I can say anything, Jon tells me, "I can't lose you again! As... As scared as I am, and as hard as it can be... Now that I've seen you after so long and have tasted your sweet lips again... I can't lose you... You said I should worry about my future... Well, I can't-I can't see a future for myself without you in it. Not anymore."

Tears start to build up, and this time, I don't hold back. I wrap my arms around him and start sobbing into his shoulder. He tightly wraps his arms around me and starts crying as well. Easy to say, this last month was hard on us both.


	48. Playing Dirty

"What's up with you," Panda asks as I hand him the clipboard with today's schedule.

I raise an eyebrow and just ask, "What do you mean?"

"You've seemed different these last few weeks. More... Happy and bouncy."

I instantly bite my cheek. It's been three weeks since Jon and I got back together, but we're more or less trying to get used to dating again. He's still really uncomfortable when it comes to my age, but we're trying to move past it. However, because of the fact that we are still working on getting used to this, we haven't told anyone about us yet. That hasn't stopped me from being a little happier recently. Though, now I'm starting to think that's a bad thing.

"Well... I'm happy because... Uh... Because of my birthday! I mean, it's only a few weeks away!"

"Oh right! It's going to be your birthday next month! The year is moving by so quickly already." Panda then smiles at me before he asks, "So, have you been thinking about my offer?"

"Of-of course," I lie. Well, I guess half lie. I was thinking about it, until Jon and I got back together. After I got so happy, it completely slipped my mind.

"So you know what you want to do, right?"

"Uh... Yeah. I know what I'm going to do. I guess I'm still just a bit nervous, but at the same time, excited."

Panda then stands up and pats my shoulder. "You'll be fine, Evan. No matter what you decide."

I laugh nervously before I walk over and sit down in his chair. He then takes the clipboard and walks out, leaving me to go over the paperwork again. Letting out a sigh, I pull out some of the files on his computer and start going over the numbers, which quickly gets boring. It has been the same thing, pretty much daily, and all of the money seems to check out. But then there's something that catches my eye. There's an invoice opened under the file I'm looking over, which confuses me. I click over and scan the invoice, and see that it's for some lawyers.

I raise an eyebrow and start looking into what it was for. _Were we getting sued? For how much? We have a good amount saved up after paying off the bills, but not a whole lot._

When my eyes scan over the court and the cost for the lawyer, my jaw drops and I almost yell out in shock and confusion. _Family court!? What the hell is Panda doing in family court!? And wait, how much is this guy changing!? Where the hell did he get the money to pay this guy!?_

I start looking more into the files contacted to this invoice, looking for something similar, and my jaw practically stays on the ground as I see that there were payments for this same lawyer for the same court going back to November. All taking place right after Thanksgiving.

_Thanksgiving... That was right after... And right around the time..._

The lightbulb suddenly bashes me in the head, and I know that I need to make my next move fast. Pulling out my phone, I take a few pictures of the screen and close out of everything, except for what I had originally opened for the money. I quickly put my phone back in my pocket and start putting in the numbers for everything. After a few minutes, Panda finally comes back and starts pours us both some drinks.

I hang out with him for about an hour or two before I quickly make up a lie, saying, "Hey, I need to go to the bathroom. I'll be back in a little bit."

I then walk out and run down the stairs and go backstage, where I see just the person I needed to talk to. Since I made the schedule, I knew he would be back here, fixing himself up before he went on stage. "Hey Moo, I need to talk to you."

Brock looks over to me before he swings his body around to face me. "Okay, what's up?"

I then pull out my phone and pull up the pictures I took off of Panda's computer. "Well... Your daughter... Was she eight, now?"

His eyes instantly widen and his jaw drops. "Yeah; how did you know that?"

"And your ex-wife," I continue, ignoring his question. "Was her name Lauren?"

"Evan, how the hell do you know any of this?"

"I'll take that as a yes too." I then sigh and hand my phone to him, showing him the court papers and bills paid for by Panda. Brock looks them over and shakes his head as he just stares at everything.

"Why is Panda paying a lawyer to take your wife to court over your daughter?"

"Evan-"

"I want the truth. No more lies. Please."

He and I then lock eyes and just stare at each other for a few seconds. He then sighs and says, "You're right... You deserve to know the truth."

I quickly grab one of the chairs from one of the other vanities and pull it in front of Brock, sitting down and waiting for him to tell me what's going on. He takes another deep breath and sighs before he then starts. "Everyone knows that I started doing this because of my daughter, and everyone knows that I want to get her back into my life. That includes you... And Anthony.  
After my overdose, it was a wakeup call to me. I knew that if I stayed here, I would be dead long before I got my daughter back. I decided while I was in my bed, that I was going to get clean and I was going to get the hell out of here...Then Panda went to talk to me.  
He told me that this overdose was going to be on my record, and my ex's lawyers would do anything to get their hands on it. And... And if they got it, they would use it against me to keep my daughter away from me. He told me that this was going to ruin everything I've been working so hard for... Then, he offered to help me.  
He gave me the number to his lawyer and told me that he would cover the cost for him to build a case for me and get started on taking Lauren to court. I had to start going to rehab however and would have to pay for the actual court case itself.  
I've seen what this lawyer has done... I know with him, even with me still being here, he could help me get my daughter back. Not only that, but my rehab is getting taken care of by Panda. I'm able to look for another job and I have a chance to get out of here. But... But everything was for a cost."

"What do you mean?"

"He and I made a deal... I'm so sorry, Evan."

"Wait, what do you mean? You're not making any sense right now. What deal did you guys make?"

He looks away from me before he says, "The deal was that he would help me get on a better life path and get me my daughter back, and in return... In return, I had to try to convince you to stay here."

"Wait, what?"

He looks back to me and locks eyes with me. "Ever since you and Jonathan started dating, you changed. You wanted to go back to school, you started taking days off, stopped covering for everyone whenever they wanted to be lazy. We all saw it, especially Panda. He saw that you were always on your phone, but he couldn't tell what you were doing. He saw that you started drifting away from the club, and he didn't want to lose you. So, he used me to try to get you to stay. Whenever I had the chance, I had to either talk up the club or talk down a life out of this hell hole. I hated it, but I had to try to convince you to stay."

I stare at him, shocked and not wanting to believe any of this. However, "So that's why you told me to take the offer a couple weeks ago."

He nods. "I'm sorry. I really want you to get the hell out of this shit... but... but my daughter."

"Don't worry about it," I tell him as I shake my head. I then take a deep breath and say, "I'll think about this as well while I think about if I'm going to stay or not."

"Wait, you still don't know?"

I stand up and grab the chair, pushing it back to the vanity it came from. "Actually, no. I know what I'm going to do. In fact, I've known what I was going to do for a while."

"Really? So, what are you going to do?"

I then smile at him as I start to walk out of the area. "You'll see."


	49. Together

***Warning* Smut**

The next month went by so fast that it feels like a blur to me. Dates, work, worries, everything just feels as if it just, flew by me. If Jon hadn't called me this morning, happy as all hell, I wouldn't have even remembered that today was my birthday. _I'm finally eighteen._

We had been excited for today for such a long time, and I honestly couldn't wait for night to roll around. He and I had quite a few things planned, and we were finally going to go out tonight. It was only last week that he had finally gotten comfortable with me and we finally told our friends about us, so we were looking forward to going out in public again.

We had a simple date planned out, it being a dinner and movie type of date, but that was honestly all I needed for tonight to feel special. Well, that and some time with my Jon.

Anyways, as I waited for the time to pass, I ended up doing some work for my online classes for the first time in a while and I watched some TV. However, both of these quickly got boring, so I decided to do something else. Out of boredom, I decided to spin around the pole a few times, just for fun. The fun finally ends when I hear a knock at my door, which I quickly run over to answer. As soon as I open the door, I happily wrap my arms around Jon's neck and give him a few pecks. With a smile, I tell him, "Just let me grab my phone and the charger and we'll head out," before I walk to my bedroom. I quickly rip the charger out of the wall and grab my phone before I walk back to my living room, where I see Jon just staring at the pole.

"Why do you have that in here?"

"Why do you think," I laugh as I close the bedroom door. "This is an apartment complex for a strip club. That pole is in everyone's apartment."

"Do you even know how to use it?"

I smirk at him before I walk behind him and close the front door. I then walk by him, dropping my charger on the coffee table and turning on my phone. As I scroll through my music, I plug my phone into the stereo and turn up the volume. I smile when I see the song "Porn Star Dancing" by My Darkest Days, and decide to play this song. As soon as the music starts, I turn to face the pole and simply start to walk around it, one hand wrapped around it as my body leans away a bit. Once the track starts to pick up, I jump up and wrap my other hand around the pole, bringing my body close as I wrap my legs around the pole. I carefully move my legs up as I spin around the pole until I'm upside down and I'm starting to lose a little speed. However, before I could lose enough to the point where it's noticeable, I pull my legs in and fix myself so that I have one leg wrapped around the pole and the other is out a little, and slowly let myself fall to the ground, switching so that my legs are under me again. As soon as my legs touch the ground, I jump back up and start to dance around the pole, using it as more of a prop. I swing my hips to the beat of the music, doing simple spins around the pole, and only do a trick at the end of the song. Nothing too crazy, but just enough to show him that I know what I'm doing.

Once I'm done with my little routine, ending with me spinning all the way down to the floor, onto my back, and crossing my legs, keeping one bent and one straight out, I look over to Jon and see him just staring at me with wide eyes and his jaw hanging open. I laugh before I push myself off of the floor and walk over to my phone, pulling it off of the AUX cord just before the next song could play.

I then walk over to him with a smirk on my face and I kiss his cheek before I ask, "Does that answer your question?" Before he could even move, I start walking back to the door and open it, walking out and waiting around the corner for him. Once he finally walks out, I lock the door and he takes my arm before walking me out to the truck.

The night continued on as any of our normal dates had gone. A movie that we hardly paid attention to as we messed with each other and making fun of the part we actually did pay attention to. After the movie ended, he took me to a nicer restaurant for dinner. He did all he could to make me feel special today, and I did all I could to let him know that it was okay to be seen with me. I guess he hadn't felt completely comfortable with us being out in public, but I could at least see that he was trying. Which is why I wanted to make this easier for him.

As soon as we finished dinner, I asked if we could go back to his apartment. We didn't need to go anywhere else, we didn't need to just walk around. What I wanted was for us both to enjoy tonight.

He smiled and thanked me for at least thinking of him, paid for our dinner, and we went back to his apartment. Once we walked in, we went straight to his couch and put on another movie, which we actually start to watch. After the movie starts, I scoot closer to Jon and press my head against his arm. He hesitates a bit, but soon wraps that arm around me, pulling me closer to him.

I kiss his cheek and ask, "Are you sure you're comfortable with me? You didn't just say you were so you could tell Tyler before he killed you?"

He chuckles and shakes his head. "No. I'm a little more comfortable with it. It's just still a little weird. But," he then lifts my head with his free hand and he turns a little to face me. "You're eighteen now. So, I need to remind myself that. I can do this," he says before he leans in and kisses me. When he pulls away, he then finishes his sentence by saying, "Without having to worry about anything."

I give him a half smile before I wrap my arms around his neck. "You know, there's a lot more we can do now that you wouldn't have to worry about."

His eyes widen when he hears this and I see his face turn a little red. "Wait, are you being serious?"

I feel my face heat up a bit, but I bit my lip and nod. "I love you, and, I trust you. We wouldn't be doing anything illegal, and, well, I've known for a long time that I've wanted you to be my first time."

I then slip out from under Jon's arm and stand up, turning around to face him. Before he can react, I then put my legs on both sides of him and sit down on his lap, keeping my eyes half opened and locked on him. My arms loosely wrapped around his neck and I lean in, giving him a nice, long, loving kiss.

After a few seconds, Jon kisses me back and I feel his hands gently run up my legs to my thighs. He gently rubs them, allowing his hands to come close to sliding onto my butt, but he doesn't push them far enough. However, his touch alone sends shivers along my body and makes me crave more. I moan into the kiss, hoping he will take the hint and push things a little more. Hoping that he'll want to hear more of that, and will take me like how he did when we first started dating.

Thankfully, it worked.

After I moan, I feel him lick my bottom lip, asking for me to let his tongue in, which I happily allow. His tongue instantly darts in, dancing around my tongue and simply exploring my mouth. As his tongue practically claims my mouth, his hands finally start to travel past my thighs. One of his hands gently follows my thigh up and he reaches around, roughly grabbing my ass. His other hand travels all the way up my body and he cradles the back of my head.

After a bit, he and I pull away from each other to breathe for a bit, but his little break for air doesn't last for long. Shortly after pulling away, he runs his tongue up and down my neck before he starts nibbling and sucking on it, causing me to moan a little louder. His hand that was originally on my ass starts to travel up and down my body, even sliding up my shirt as he holds me in place with his other hand. After a bit, he pulls away from my neck and kisses me again, slipping his tongue in again while I'm in the middle of moaning. The second I shut my eyes to enjoy the kiss, they shoot open again as I feel a slight sting on my ass.

I pull away a bit to let out a gasp, but Jon keeps my head in place until he is done with the kiss. As soon as he lets me go, I let out a gasp for air and start panting a bit, making Jon chuckle. I look up to him as he starts to rub his hand on my ass as he just smirks at me. "You sure you want to do this? I'm not going to push for it if you have any doubts after that."

"Oh please," I laugh as I wipe away some drool that was sliding down my face. "We've gotten hotter than that before." I then lean back in, pressing my chest against him as I wrap my arms around his neck again, causing him to lean back into the couch. "I want you to be my first time, and I want you to be it now."

He chuckles a bit and he kisses the bridge of my nose before he lifts my chin up a bit, locking his eyes with mine. His beautiful, shining bright blue eyes are clouded in lust, the fear that he had before gone. Hopefully, I'll never have to see that fear in his eyes ever again.

"Come on," Jon then says before he flips me onto my back on the couch. However, he doesn't hover over me like how he would before. Now, he just gets off of me and stands up in front of the couch. I look up to him, confused, which makes him laugh. "What? You want me to fuck you here? Nah; I want you to be comfortable before I break your damn back."

I chuckle before I roll off the couch and follow him as he leads us to his bedroom, leaving his TV and PlayStation on. Once we go into his room, he turns to face me and he gives me a kiss before he pushes me onto his bed. We laugh a bit as we crawl around, moving so that I'm laying against his pillows and he is in between my legs. He then leans back down into me and we instantly lock lips. Our tongue dance around each other, my hands travel from the back of his neck to his chest and back several times, while his rub against my thighs and butt. I start to pull at his shirt, wanting to rip it off of him so badly at this point, but I stop pulling when I hear a little crash coming from the right.

Breaking our kiss, I look over and see that Jon had opened a drawer in his nightstand while we were kissing and he had his hand in it, digging around for something. "What are you doing," I ask, confused by many things.

"I just need to grab something," he states before he leans closer to the nightstand, his hand jumping around for whatever it is he wanted. "I haven't touched this shit since we first got together; I know it's in here," he then growls as he continues to look.

My confusion starts to mix with annoyance the longer he looks through his drawer, but before I can say anything, he finally finds what he was looking for. I look over and see him pull out a bottle of lube and a box of condoms, which causes me to laugh. "Why did you pull out condoms? You know I can't get knock up, right?"

Jon rolls his eyes and starts shaking his head as he moves back closer to me. "This is your first time. I don't want to make things awkward for you by having you clean yourself out right after we're done."

"Clean myself out?"

Jon laughs a bit before he locks his eyes with me. "God, I can't believe I'm about to fuck someone that's been in the sex industry for two years and doesn't know a thing about sex." Before I can yell something at him, I then feel his hand gently rub against the side of my face, and I feel him lean against me as he goes in for a sweeter kiss. He pulls away a bit and locks his eyes with mine, his hand resting against my cheek, before he says, "But I'm more than happy to be your teacher. For now though, just trust me. I know what I'm doing."

I smile and wrap my arms around his neck before I say, "You know I'll always trust you."

He and I close the little gap between us with another kiss before he breaks out of my arms. I then watch as he pulls off his shirt, the city lights beaming in through the window, making the dark room just bright enough to give me a good look at his slim body. Nothing too amazing, but fit enough to make my heart skip a beat. I run my hand up and down his torso, following the lines of his body with my fingertips before Jon pulls me up and he starts to pull off my shirt. I help take the shirt off of me and watch him as he starts to run his hand up and down my body.

He then leans in close to my ear and he whispers, "God you're beautiful," before I feel him start to nibble on it.

I let out a small gasp from shock, but watch his hand as it starts to slowly travel down my body. I start to then feel nervous as I feel his fingertips play with the edge of my pants, following the edge from one side of my body to the other, hooking one finger under it and following the edge. I bite my lip and dig my nails into Jon's skin, which makes him chuckle a bit before he whispers, "You're so easy to tease. I love it."

He then starts to kiss me, starting from just below my ear, all the way down my neck. We then lock eye and I start to dig my nails into the blanket as I was him kiss down my chest and stomach, stopping just before my pants. He then moves back up to my lips, making each kiss he lands on my lips short and sweet, which is just enough to make me want more. His hand slowly starts to crawl onto my pants and starts to move closer and closer to my groin. When he is less than an inch away from my crouch, his hand stops, and he lifts himself up and just smirks at me.

I whimper, wanting him to touch me so badly. Wanting more of anything he has for me. Wanting him to take me already.

"I want you to say what you want me to do," he says in a husky tone, making me shiver. "Come on, Ev. Talk," he then says as he starts to rub my inner thigh.

I whimper a bit and try to think about something sexy to say. Something from one of the stories I've read or the movies or pornos I've seen, but my mind draws a blank.

_He said to tell him what I want..._

"Touch me," I say, my voice shaking a bit from my nerves.

"Touch you where, Ev? I need you to tell me exactly what you want."

I bite my lip and whimper a bit more before I say, "Touch my dick."

"How," he asks, trying not to laugh. "Like this," he then says before he moves his hand over me and gently brushes his palm against it but moves it away just as fast. I whimper a bit more. "You got to tell me what you want, Ev."

I shut my eyes and feel my face heat up. "I want you to rub my dick."

The second the words leave my lips, Jon's hand jumps onto my crouch and he puts a bit of pressure on me before he starts rubbing me through my jeans. I start letting out some soft moans as I feel my jeans start to grow tighter. My head rolls back and I lift my hips up, pressing myself more into his hand.

Jon soon stops though and he pushes my hips back down before I feel him lean into me, pressing his lower half into me. He steals a few kisses from me before I feel his hand slip in between us and I feel him start to unzip my jeans. Pushing himself off of me, he scoots back a little and starts sliding my jeans off of me. He starts rubbing me through my briefs as he starts to rub himself through his pants. Licking his lips, he locks his eyes with mine and hums. 

"You're getting pretty hard. You really want this."

Feeling my body shake from just his touch, I nod my head, finding it so hard to talk from the hunger in his eyes. My eyes drop down to his pants and I watch as he unzips his pants, scooting off the bed in order to kick them off of him as he continues to rub me. My eyes then widen as I watch him slide his boxers off of him, his dick popping out, semi-hard. He crawls back onto the bed and slides my briefs off, revealing me, and making me turn redder than I was before. After he throws them to the floor, he roughly grabs my arms and pulls me up, having me sit on my knees in front of him. He scoots closer to me and presses our dicks together, making me twitch a bit, and I watch as he takes them both in his hand before he starts to stroke us. He starts slowly, but as soon as he getting a good hold of us in his hand and he starts to get a bit harder, he starts pumping us faster.

Once he starts doing this, my hands jump up to his shoulders and I feel myself start to melt. My mind starts going crazy. I start moaning into his neck as he continues, even hearing a few soft moans coming from him as he starts to get harder. I can feel him starting to grow in his hand, making it tighter, and making me moan louder. Once he's done, he pushes me away from him a bit and smirks at me. 

"Tell me," he starts as he brings his hand up to my chin and gently runs his thumb across my bottom lip. "Do you know how to give a blowjob?" I lock my eyes with him and shake my head. "No," he chuckles before he brings my face closer to him. "Well don't worry. I'll teach you."

He then pushes me back a bit and has me lower myself until my face is right next to his dick. I then listen to him as he tells me what he wants me to do to him, and I nervously follow his instructions. I bring my mouth close to him and lick his head, tasting his somewhat sweet yet salty pre-cum, which was building up on the tip. I then start licking around the tip as if it was a lollipop before I follow his shaft down to the base and back up. I do this several times, earning a few more soft and groans from him before I go back up to his tip and wrap my lips around it. I then start to push him as far back into my mouth as I can before I start to feel my gag reflex stop me. Once I know how far I can take him, I start to move my head back and forth, running my tongue against him as I move. He lets out some soft moans before I feel him put his hands on the side of my head. I then feel him somewhat lead my head as he starts to thrust into my throat, making his dick go past where I was able to take him without gagging. 

However, he only does this a few times before he pulls himself out of my mouth and has me sit up again. He kisses me roughly before he tells me to stay still. He reaches over and takes the bottle of lube, popping open the top before pouring some onto his fingers. I watch as he plays with his fingers a bit before he pulls me closer. "This is going to hurt at first," he then warns me before he reaches around and I feel him slowly push one of his fingers into me.

I feel pins shoot up my spine and I can't help but hiss from the pain. Drops of tears start to build up in the corners of my eyes but I try to suck it up. Jon stops pushing his finger after a small bit, and he turns his attention to calming me down. He hushes me and tells me that I need to relax my body. "It's only going to hurt for a little bit, baby. I promise I'll make this all worth the pain. You just need to relax." After telling me this, he lifts my head up with his other hand and gives me a sweet, lovingly kiss. Nothing breath taking, but enough to help distract me from the pain.

After a minute, I relax my body just enough to tell him to keep going. I hiss as he pushes his finger in more and more until I can feel his knuckle pressed against me. He then waits for me to relax my body again before he starts moving his finger around, pulling it in and out of me and rubbing my inner walls with it. I start to moan a little from the feeling, shutting my eyes and leaning into him so I can really start to enjoy it. He kisses my neck and whispers into my ear as he continues to move his finger. Soon, he pulls his finger out of me, only to put it back in, adding a second finger with it.

I hiss in pain and let out a louder moan, digging my nails into his shoulders, only to quickly relax again when he starts to massage my inner wall. He does this for another two minutes, even adding in a third finger. By this point, I'm on the edge. I'm panting and moaning more and more, and I'm starting to crave the real thing.

When he believes I'm ready, he pulls his fingers out of me and gives me one more kiss before he tells me to get onto all fours and turn away. I do as he says and looks over my shoulder to watch as he pulls out a condom and slips it on. He then pours a good amount of lube on his dick before he lines himself up with me. Rubbing my back, he slowly starts to push himself into me, and the second I feel his head push through, my eyes widen to the size of a planet, and I can't help but yell out in pain as needle shoot up and down my spine. I dig my nails into the blanket and tears instantly filled my eyes as I scream out in pain.

Jon quickly starts trying to calm me down, whispering sweet things in my ear and kissing me as he rubs my back. We stay like this for a good minute, maybe more before I can calm myself down enough to relax. Jon leans back up and grabs onto my hips when he feels that I'm relaxed enough for him to move. He then pulls my hips into him as he pushes himself more into me, making me hiss in pain more. The lube is mostly dry, but it's at least there enough to make Jon's dick slide in a little easier.

After a bit, I feel my ass hit Jon's body, telling me that he's all the way in me. He leans back down and kisses the back of my neck, telling me that the hard part is over. "Just relax, I'll be as gentle as I can be. I promise this will feel real good, real soon."

He then leans away from me again and I grip the blanket tightly, a bit scared about how this next part will feel. Keeping a tight hold on my hips, Jon slowly starts to pull himself out of me, making me hiss a bit. Then, when he is about halfway out of me, he thrust his hips into me, slamming himself fully in and hitting something inside of me that makes me groan a bit. Not out of pain this time, but from pleasure.

He repeats this, moving slowly at first, but soon he starts to pick up speed and his thrust become harder and harder. My groans quickly become moans, and my grip on the blanket becomes so tight that my knuckles turn white. The longer he goes, the faster and harder everything seems to get, and I love every second of it.

At one point, my arms seem to turn to jelly, causing the upper half of my body to fall, and I can't bring myself to push myself back up. My eyes start to roll into the back of my head, and I'm moaning so much that I can't even close my mouth. Jon's hands tighten around my hips and he starts moaning loudly with me. Eventually, this position gets boring to him, so he turns me onto my side and brings my leg up, having it rest against his shoulder. We continue for what feels like hours, and for all I know, it could have been. Time slipped my mind the second he wrapped his hand around my member and started pumping me at the same rhythm as his thrusts.

All I know is that after a long and amazing night, he and I both finish around the same time. My body was a mixture of weak and pleased. I could barely keep myself awake, and Jon couldn't help but laugh when he noticed that. With his help, we crawled under the sheets and cuddled up together. The last thing I hear before exhaustion took me down was, "Happy birthday, Ev. I love you."

I probably have the biggest, dumbest smile on my face after that, but who could blame me after I finally got to fully be with the man of my dreams. The love of my life. The man I want to marry. Absolutely nothing could ruin this night, this feeling, for me.


	50. Salty

***Trigger Warning***

My eyes open as the sunlight breaks through the window, telling me that it's far past morning. I yawn and try to sit up, only to hiss in pain as I put a tiny bit of pressure on my butt. An arm then wraps around my hips before the hand attached to it starts gently patting my thigh. "I told you that you were going to be sore," Jon then says, his voice somewhat raspy from just waking up.

Rolling my eyes, I push his arm off of me, causing him to chuckle before he rolls over and sits up next to me, stretching his arms and yawning before he wraps his arm around me and giving me a nice, long kiss. We then get out of bed and put on some clothes before we walk out of his bedroom and walk into his kitchen to make breakfast together. As we cook, we start talking about a couple of important things, such as what he and I had talked about last night at dinner, and what I was going to do today.

"And you're sure you want to do this," Jon asks me, considered and probably just as worried about how everyone will react to my decision as I am.

However, "Everyone has told me what they honestly think I should do, including you," I start saying as I start cutting up some bell peppers for our omelets. "I've thought about everything that has happened in the past two years since I've been at the club, the lies I've learned, the amazing memories I've made with everyone, the friends, the pros and cons on both whether or not I stay or leave. This isn't the same as my decision to run away from home. I didn't just come up with this overnight or through a dream. I've honestly put in a lot of thought into this, and I really think... no. I know I'm making the right decision with this."

Jon gives me a little smile before he walks over to me, wrapping his arms around my waist. "If this is what you really want to do, Ev, then I support you and I'm proud of you."

I chuckle and put the knife down before I lean into his body. "I really appreciate that, Del. I mean, this is really big for me."

"It would be big for anyone in your position. Hell, I don't even know what I would do with an offer like this."

I roll my eyes, "Oh please; you've been telling me to run for the hills since we met. You're telling me now that you think you would have debated staying."

"I meant if I went through what you did, asshole."

I laugh and turn around in his arms, wrapping mine around his neck. "Well, with every struggle I've been through in my short life, I guess it just made the decision a little bit easier." I then kiss him before pushing him away, saying we should finish cooking. Once it's done, he and I then sit at his island and eat as we talk about our plans for later.

After he and I have our breakfast, I finally look at the time and see that it's almost three. Jon doesn't argue when I tell him I needed to leave and he quickly drives me back to the apartments so I could change into something clean and so I could tidy up around the apartment. As soon as I see that it's just about time for the club to open, I grab my keys and walk out, rushing to my car as knots start to build up inside me. My nerves have finally caught up to my head.

_This is the first step to me becoming an adult. This decision will change everything and show how much I've truly grown. I have every right to be nervous, but I can't let my nerves get to me or stop me. I need to do this._

I quickly drive to the club and walk pass everyone as they say hello. However, I ignore them. The only person I need to talk to right now is Panda, so I don't waste a second. As soon as I step foot in the club, I walk straight to his office, opening the door without even trying to knock.

The second I walk in, Panda looks up from his computer and smiles at me. "There's the birthday boy. How was your day off?"

"It was nice," I plainly say, not wanting to give away my nerves. "I'm ready to give my answer on your offer."

"Straight to business," Panda laughs as he stands up and starts walking towards the bar. "I love it, and I think I know what your answer will be. And I can't wait for us to get deeper into the ins and outs of running the club and opening a new club. I also hope you're not hoping that just because you'll be sharing the name with me that it will be easy. There are going to be a lot of work planned for-"

"Panda, I quit."

The second the words leave my mouth, Panda stops in place, mid-step and mid-sentence, shocked. I can see the gears turning in his head as he tried to process what I had just told him. After a minute or so, he turns around to face me before he asks, "What did you just say?"

"I'm sorry, Panda. I appreciate everything you've done for me and I honestly love everyone here, but I think it's time for me to leave. Running the club, it doesn't seem like the right thing for me to do. I think I need to find something else for my future."

"B-but why? If you love everything here and I'm offering you the chance for an amazing future, then why do you want to quit? Hell, even if you don't want to run the club, why do you want to quit it all together? You can still work here as a drink boy and we can get you started as a dancer-"

"It's just not for me anymore, Panda. And I didn't say I loved it here. I said I loved the people. I love you and the guys. When I'm gone, that's what I'm going to miss. However, I can't stay here anymore. The drug usage is a huge problem for me. Not only did I run away from my parents because of their drug habits, but while here, I saw Bryce turn into an asshole because of his drug habit and saw him die from it. I also saw Brock almost die from it. I've seen the darker side to the life I would have to live while here, and I don't want to live it anymore. The money isn't worth the lives that will be destroyed by it. The money wouldn't be worth the assaults. It wouldn't be worth putting people on a path that some of them don't know is so horrible."

"But Evan, there's so much-"

"I've already made my decision, Panda. And I understand what this means... I'll go clean out my locker and then go finish packing my things. I'll be gone before everyone gets off of work, and I will not connect any of them again. So, I guess this is goodbye."

I then turn away and start walking towards the door, but stop when I hear Panda yell, "Wait!" Looking over my shoulder, I see that he has a nervous expression, that soon relaxes with a deep breath. "Look, I understand that this is your decision, and if it is really what you want, then I will support you and wish you nothing but the best. However, I have one request before you leave." He then motions towards the couch and he asks, "Please, have a drink with me."

"A drink?"

"Yes. To celebrate your decision to move on to bigger and better things."

I smile and feel my body relax a bit before I agree and walk over to the couch, sitting down. I then watch as he turns his back towards me and makes us both a drink before he walks over and hands me my glass. He makes a toast to me before we both start to drink, but I could help but notice something weird. My rum tastes a little salty.

"I have to say, it is going to be a shame not having you here anymore," Panda then tells me. "There was so much more I wanted to teach you about the way to run a successful club. I was hoping you would be the one I could pass everything down to."

"Honestly, when I started working here, I would have done anything to get this opportunity. It's just, I can't get over all of the horrible things that happened here."

"I understand that. Such a shame too. I bought the building I was going to get cleaned up for you to use as well."

"Wait, you what?"

Panda chuckles and says, "I truly thought you were going to agree to the partnership. When I heard that The Vanity was shut down, I went to the bank and bought the building, knowing that it would have been the perfect size for us to work with. We could have gone down as soon as tomorrow morning to look around and figure out how we were going to remodel it into a strip club you would have been proud to own."

"The Vanity? Didn't they just close down a few months ago?"

"Yes, and it wasn't cheap to buy it either. I only just got the deed a few weeks ago."

"A few weeks ago? Wait, how? I was keeping an eye on the books. We didn't have enough money in the books to buy that club AND pay off Brock's lawyer."

Panda raises an eyebrow at me when I say that. "How did you know I was paying a lawyer for Brock?"

"You left an invoice opened on the computer. I saw that you paid a lawyer to take a woman to family court for full custody of a little girl."

Panda chuckles and I see a twisted smile form. "You sneaky little bastard. Well, if you want to know everything, I guess there's no point in hiding the truth from you anymore."

"The truth? What do you mean?"

"I mean the club isn't the only thing you would have been running, Evan. I have a side business, and pushing drugs ain't it."

"What?"

"Think about it. When I was the one making the list, didn't you notice something weird about who I would put on the pole and who I didn't? Didn't you notice that the guards were always on call, even at the apartments? Didn't you notice that some of the regulars would get extra grabby with certain dancers? Did you ever ask yourself why?"

I try thinking back to the past two years, but my mind starts feeling a little fuzzy. _I couldn't be getting buzzed already. I just had one glass of rum._

"Did you ever wonder why that one bastard got so attached to Bryce? So attached that he stalked him? So attached that he attacked him."

"A-attacked?"

Panda starts laughing. "Man, you were really clueless up until now." He then reaches over and grabs my face, roughly pulling me closer to him with his hand. "But then again, it was your innocence that made you so damn hot." Before I can react, Panda roughly slams his lips onto mine and steals a kiss from me. Confusion and fear start to take over and I quickly push him off of me, but the fear keeps me in place.

Panda laughs again and stands up, towering over me. "There is just so much that you were so blind to that it's honestly hilarious, Evan. I only wish you had thought things over a bit more. We would have made been great business partners, and I was hoping the longer you were around me, you would have seen that I was the only person who would have cared about you. Who would have done anything for you. Who would protect you with a simple phone call. But now... You made me do this."

I shake my head and quickly stand up, only for me to feel dizzy the second I do. So dizzy, that I practically fall back down. My body starts feeling weird. I feel... I feel like I'm going to be sick. I feel like everything is spinning. I can't think straight. I... What...

"I'm not going to lose you, Evan. Not after everything I've done for you. Not after all the plans I had made for you. I thought you would have been smart enough to know that you belong here. That you belong to me." He leans over and gently runs the back of his hand against the side of my face. "It's such a shame that you made me do this."

I try to stand up again. I try to get off of the couch to run out of here, but my body doesn't want to listen to me. It feels like my body was turned to stone. And my mind... Everything is getting fuzzy. Why is everything getting fuzzy? What is happening to me?!

....

_Why was my rum salty?_


	51. Let's Chat

***Four Days Earlier***

*Mike's POV*

"I hope you realize just how much we appreciate you finally agreeing to come forward," I say as my partner and I sit in front of the scared man in front of us. 

He looks away from us before he says, "You guys didn't give me much of a choice... Is Evan safe?"

"I think you know the answer to that," my partner replies, coldly.

The man in front of us looks down and sighs. "Yeah... I do... Alright, let's get this over with so you guys can take that bastard down."

"Easy there," I say, not wanting to ruin our chance with his anger. "Let's take this one step at a time. From the beginning. What is your name and how did you come into contact with Anthony?"

He takes a deep breath and calms himself down. "My name is Ryan. Ryan Werker, formerly known as Ohmwerker. And as for how I met Anthony, well, I was homeless. Been homeless for a year. He found me looking through his trash, trying to find something to eat, and he offered me some food in his club. Once in there, he talked about how the club will make all this money, but he didn't have reliable strippers. He offered me a deal."

"What was that deal?"

"If I worked for him, I could live at the club. However, the deal was better for him. I would have had to work for free and give him half of my tips... But I took it anyways. I had spent a year sleeping in the backseat of my car... And his couch looked so comfortable."

"So you started working for him that night?"

He nods. "I didn't really know what I was doing, but I managed to get a lot of people's attention. After that night, I worked nightly. Saved up as much money as I could to eat regularly, get a costume together, and by the time I had enough to rent my own apartment, I had fallen in love with the club life... Until we got bigger.  
Once we got bigger, the shitheads started coming out. The rich assholes that thought we were below them in life, the grabby assholes that would grope us every time we walked by them. And the monsters... The bastards that would try to fuck us in front of everyone, or drag us away to do that.  
I begged Jigglesworth to ban them from the club, but he refused to do it. Saying if he did that, then we'd lose out on so much money."

"I'm sorry, but Jigglesworth," I ask, knowing that we needed to be as clear as day with this.

"When he and I first started to work together, I would call him Jigglesworth. His stage name at his first club was JigglyPanda because he was a bigger guy. After getting drunk one night, the name came to be, and it stuck. After a while, I stopped calling him that, but if I needed his full attention, the name would come back up, and he would snap back to me."

"Alright," my partner then says as he writes everything down. "Let's continue forward. How did the apartments come to be?"

We see Ryan's face scrunch up at the mention of the apartments. "The most disgusting part of the job," he then says before he slides his elbows onto the table. "People started going to Panda, begging him to let them fuck us. A lot of them even threw money at him to get him to say yes. And that greedy bastard broke. After we started hiring security guards, he got everyone together and told us he was going to hold our checks for the next month. He ended up buying the first apartment building he could afford and had us all live there. I thought it was meant to be just somewhere nice for us all to live, but then he shattered that illusion.  
He went to everyone, one on one, and told us that he did this so that he had somewhere to send the fuckers that wanted us. Told us if we said yes to fucking them for pay, we'd get more time on the pole, more work days, and we'd get to live there for free."

"Did you agree to all of this?"

"Not at first," he tells us. "I didn't want to do anything with anyone. But that changed when he came to the club."

"Who?"

Ryan sighs and looks down at the table. "Bryce. He was this sweet college kid, had a bit of an attitude, but he was funny and kind. I fell for him, and he quickly fell for me too. However, he wasn't going on stage as much as he should have. That is, until someone got their eye on him.  
There was this sick bastard, sadly also named Ryan. He had been nice to everyone, but when he saw Bryce, he changed. I was actually giving him a lap dance the first time he saw him, and I heard him whisper "he looks just like Felix". Later on we learned that Felix was his ex that he was still in love with.  
Anyways, once Ryan got his eyes on Bryce, he started throwing high amounts of cash to get Bryce. He paid Panda a crap ton of money to have Bryce all to himself and to deny anyone else that wanted him. Panda did as he wanted, and Bryce agreed to do it for more time on the pole.  
Not long after Ryan started hooking up with Bryce, Bryce started coming to me. He hated being Ryan's plaything. He didn't like being used the way that he did. Eventually, Bryce started to come to me so much that we just, happened. We started doing things couples did, and Bryce wanted to end things with Ryan. He even told Panda he didn't want it anymore. He threatened to quit if Panda didn't stop everything, which made Panda nervous. By this time, Bryce started getting big. He was bringing in a lot of people, making the club a lot of money. I even used this as a playing piece in this fucked up game for us. I told Panda he could have Bryce live with me so he could hire another dancer to take dick since Bryce wanted it to end." He chuckles a bit before he continues. "Bryce and I were so happy when he said yes to that."

"And how long did that last," I ask, knowing that it couldn't have been that easy.

"A day; maybe. Ryan had already known where the apartments were, so when Bryce cut him off, he went crazy. He started stalking Bryce everywhere, begging him to talk to him. He begged Bryce to quit the club, thinking that was why Bryce ended things. He followed him everywhere he went. It got so bad that even Panda started getting worried, but he didn't do much. After a few months, he banned Ryan from the club, but that didn't stop him. We called the police several times, but he just wouldn't leave him alone. Everything he did made Bryce a nervous wreck and strained our relationship. After a few months of dating, Bryce and I had to break up, and this, for some reason, made Bryce believe that the stalking would stop. It didn't though. A few months after our break up, he started coming around less and less, but he would still show up...   
It wasn't until one night that everything changed for the absolute worst."

"What happened?"

He shuts his eyes and I can see him start to shake with anger. "This is going to take us off track, and I fucking hate talking about this, but fuck it. This happened just a day before Evan was officially hired. I was at the apartment, helping Evan learn how to keep himself up on the pole, while Bryce was at work...well, just getting off of work. He was in the parking lot, by himself, when that fucking bastard jumped him... He... He forced Bryce into his car... and he..."

"Ryan, I understand that this is hard, but you need to say it. If you don't, we won't be able to use it against anyone. The other Ryan will be able to get out of prison, and we won't be able to use this against Anthony."

Ryan takes a deep breath and nods, telling me that he understands. "... The bastard raped Bryce right there in the parking lot of the club... just a few feet away from the back door... I found out about it an hour later, after Anthony called me. By then, the police came and took the bastard away... Anthony tried to hide it. He told them that Ryan was trying to kidnap him... but that was a lie and I have proof of it."

"Did you bring it?"

He nods before he reaches down and grabs his backpack off the floor. He opens it in his lap and pulls out a vanilla folder and slides it to us. "A few days after the rape, Bryce told me he had been in a lot of pain, so I took him to the hospital without Anthony's knowledge. Bryce had anal fissure from the rape, and the hospital even stated that it didn't look like it could have been caused by passing a large stool. The doctor even asked him if he had been. All Bryce told him was that he didn't want to talk about it and that everything was getting taken care of. Later, he told me what had happened to him."

I take the folder and open it, seeing the medical papers confirming everything he had told us. "Did Evan know about this?"

"No. Anthony told us to cover up the kidnapping because he didn't want Evan to get scared away, and Bryce begged me not to tell anyone what happened to him. I still can remember seeing him curled up in my car, crying his eyes out as he talked about how he felt disgusting and dirty and... He told me he didn't want anyone to know what had happened. Not even Evan, because he didn't know what anyone would think of him."

"Let's take a step back," my partner then speaks up. "How did Evan get roped into all of this?"

"... I brought him in."

I close the folder and place it back on the table, glaring at him. "You brought a fifteen-year-old into a strip club?"

"Look, it's not something I'm proud of, but at the time, I just wanted to help him. I just wanted to give him someplace to live, because I found him sleeping in a fucking park. I begged Anthony to let us keep him at the apartments, but he refused. He then proposed another deal for us." He then sighs before he continues. "The deal was that if Bryce and I sold ourselves, Evan would have been allowed to stay at the apartments. And again, it was an unfair deal. To add to his side, he said Evan also had to work for him to earn his keep.  
Little did Bryce and I know, but he was going to hold Evan against us over the next two years. Any time Bryce or I fought against him, didn't do what he asked, or fucked up even a little bit, he threatened us with Evan. The stress from keeping Evan safe and having to deal with the nightmare of what happened to him started getting to Bryce fast. He wasn't a slut, and he wasn't a one-night stand kind of guy. Everything got to him and fucked him up so much that... that..." He shuts his eyes again and he starts to tear up. "Bryce was desperate for an escape from everything... He ended up going to Anthony one night before work, and he came backstage with a bag of pills... He got Xanax from Anthony and started using that night. This was about two months after his rape. And it ended up being the death of him."

"And you know for sure that he got it from Anthony?"

"Yes. Anthony loves money more than anything. He gets everything himself from a guy he had been blackmailing. Some pharmacist with connections that had been cheating on his wife with two of the dancers. He's been getting shit from him for over three years and he would sell it to the dancers. Well, taking the money out of their paychecks, but still."

"So, when Brock was in the hospital for the laced coke-"

"Wait, what?! Moo went to the hospital?! What happened to him?! Is he okay?! Please tell me he's okay!"

"Calm down," I quickly say, regretting my words. "Brock is okay. However, he went to the hospital around Thanksgiving due to an overdose. It was caused by something being laced in the cocaine he took before work."

"Fuck," Ryan then says, shaking his head. "I knew Jigglesworth was evil... I didn't know he would do that to us..."

"Please, let's stay focused here," my partner then says. "Now, did Evan know anything about what the apartments were being used for?"

"No," Ryan answers. "I never told him, and Anthony made it a rule for none of us to say anything. He didn't want to scare Evan off so he could continue to use him against Bryce and I... Then everyone else as time went on... Everyone really liked Evan."

"So is that why Evan is still there? He doesn't know?"

"I don't know if he knows or not. I haven't talked to him since I was thrown out of the club for quitting, and I haven't seen him since, maybe a week after Thanksgiving."

"What do you mean," I ask.

"Well, it's not important, but I went to the mall with my boyfriend and saw Evan there. And I know Evan. He doesn't like going out alone. He likes having people around him, or he gets nervous. So, I knew that if he was there, someone else from the club had to be there, and I didn't want Anthony to know I was trying to talk to Evan. So, I ran into the crowd."

"Alright, moving on," my partner says, taking control again. "How have you guys been hiding all of this from Evan?"

"We just don't tell him. Or, we didn't tell him."

"So he never noticed people coming in and out of the apartments," I ask, confused. "You guys never talked about this shit and he walked in? You expect us to believe that?"

"Well, he never noticed the people because no one was ever going to his apartment. As for us talking about those fuckers, well, code words can make anything sound PG."

"What do you mean," my partner asks.

Ryan shuts his eyes and sighs. "I'm so tired of playing host all night. My guest have been so annoying lately. To make matters worse, I have a very important guest coming over in the morning, and it's important that I impress him. Otherwise, Panda will be pissed that I lost him a partner."

When he says this, I look at my partner and see his face slowly shift into horror. "Th-that... They were-"

"Host was code for us having sex with those guys. Guest are Johns. Important guest are high ranking Johns that paid a large amount for us. And partners were Johns that come back so much that Anthony was able to use their money for his own little shopping spree. The last thing he bought himself with the money we made him by laying on our backs was a black, four-door truck. Never looked at the make and model, but I remember he loved the shit out of it."

My partner drops his pen and just stares at the notebook in front of him, shocked. I quickly reach over and take the pen and notebook, knowing that he needs a minute. "I think we can try to wrap this up now."

"One more thing," Ryan says, opening his eyes and looking straight into my eyes. "Evan is in a lot of trouble if he's still there. I've seen how Anthony acts around things he wants, and I know that Anthony wants Evan. If he gets the opportunity... I don't even want to think about what could happen to him. So please, get Evan out of there."

"We're going to use your statement here to try to get a warrant to take Anthony down, along with what we've gotten from the hospital and our undercover agent. As soon as we get the warrant, we will do everything we can to take him down. I promise."

He nods and we all stand up. I allow Ryan to walk out first, and my partner and I watch as he walks straight to his boyfriend and wraps his arms around him. "I can't believe how stupid I was," my partner then says before he starts walking to his desk.

"What?"

"The shit he said about the "playing host" and "guest"; the dancers talked about that shit around the bar all the time. They were talking about it right in front of me and I missed it all completely." He groans before he sits at his desk, putting his head in his hands. "I can't believe I didn't pick up on it."

"You couldn't have known," I tell him. "And even if you knew, there's no way for us to prove that that's what they were talking about. We needed someone that was there to confirm all of this, which is what we finally got with this guy."

"But there was a way for me to have gotten all of this sooner."

"Not a legal way," I practically yell at him before I slam the notebook onto his desk, making him jump. "You did everything you could while you were in there! Don't think that any of this meant you failed! If it wasn't for you, we would still be where these fuckers were a year ago, and you know it!"

He blinks and stares up at me, shocked by my outburst, but soon he laughs. "You know I can't take you seriously when you get pissy like this."

"I'm being serious!"

He laughs again and takes the notebook. "I know, and I know you're right." He opens the notebook again and reads it over. "I'm just annoyed that they literally talked about this shit in front of me almost every day and I missed it. At most, all I got us was the names of the cops from here that were probably fucking us over."

"And you know damn well that that means a lot."

He smiles at me and stands up. "Come on. Let's get this to the chief. Last thing we need is for this to slip through the cracks on us."

I smile and laugh as I follow him. "As if we would let that happen."


	52. Memory

***Trigger Warning***

Lights... Shadows... That's all I can see. Lights and shadows.

My head is spinning. Everything is blurry. My body feels heavy, and I can't tell anything anymore.

I don't even know where I am anymore.

_"Fight it, please,"_ I hear my mom beg...

But I don't know how to fight this. I don't know what I'm fighting anymore... I don't... _Where am I?_

I try to lift my head to look around, but my body feels like it's paralyzed. I can feel bouncing, but I don't remember getting into a car... _Did I even leave the club? Why do I feel like a rag doll? Why am I bouncing?..._

I look around as much as I can, but I still don't see much. Flashes of light every once and a while, but not enough light for me to make anything out. After... After some time, I feel everything come to a stop. I try to lift my head again but still have no luck. I can't even turn it to the side.

I hear something open next to me and light breaks through it with a single shadow in the middle of it. I hear laughing. It's evil. Kind of like those laughs the villains have in cartoons.

"It's funny how good you look, even when you're not there," I hear the shadow say before I feel a pair of hands on my hips. I can feel my body get pulled closer to the shadow. Closer to the darkness.

My mom starts screaming in my head, sounding like an alarm, telling me I need to fight whatever's wrong with me. Screaming that I need to get away. However, all the screaming does if give me a headache.

"I wish you were smart enough to realize just how much I would have taken care of you," I hear the shadow say. I feel my legs get pulled apart and feel pressure against my crotch and thighs. The shadow looms over me, blocking out the light that is shining around it in an eclipse. "You and I would have made amazing business partners, and with all the hours you would have spent with me, you would have learned to love me the way I love you." The shadow grabs my shirt and pulls the top half of my body up, my arms and head falling limp the second I was forced up. A hand roughly grabs the back of my head, wrapping its fingers in my hair, and it pulls my head up. Rough lips slam into mine, a tongue pushes its way into my mouth and another kiss is stolen from me.

Once the shadow is done with the one-sided kiss, it pulls away and I feel arms wrap around me before I'm lifted up into the air. The shadow turns around, shutting the car door before I feel it bounce me up and down a couple of time, making sure it has a tight hold of me from under my legs and around my back. Once it's done, I feel it start to walk forward, into a dark room... Or maybe it's a cave. The blinding light disappears as I hear a roar shake the darkness and causes something behind us to hide the light, allow the darkness to fully overtake everything.

Soon after, the shadow takes me into a new room, and then another, and then another. It takes me into a room on a different level before I feel my back finally touch something soft. I see the shadow remove things off of it, but it just looks like it is removing pieces of itself. I feel hands run up and down my body. I feel my clothes being ripped off of me. I feel a hand wrap around my member and start to stroke it.

"St-stop," I say, tears rolling down my face, trying to move my hand, but it feels like it's chained to weights.

Suddenly, I am brought into darkness. My memory becomes hazy. I am brought out into the park with my parents, but the darkness quickly starts to swallow them whole.

I scream out as I feel something forced into me.

The world starts to shake as the darkness drags my parents to hell.

Tears pour down my face like raindrop down a window, but I can't even find the strength to move my head as lips force themselves onto mine again.

Thunder and lightning crash around me, knocking down everything that made me feel happy. Everything that made me feel safe.

My body feels like ice as lips press against my neck and chest.

The darkness starts to crawl up my legs. I try to kick it off, but it only continues to crawl up, trying to swallow me like how it swallowed my parents.

Hands crawl all over my body and around my neck.

The darkness crawls up my torso, up my neck. I let out a scream as I feel it inch its way onto my face. I feel it move around me, its edges feeling like the ends of a spider's legs. As I scream out, feeling it all start to burn, the edges crawl into my mouth, around my nose, making it impossible to breathe.

I look around, hoping and praying for someone, anyone to help me, but I see no one.

The edges of the darkness start to crawl around my eyes. I can see it. I try to shut them, but...

...

Everything...

...

Everything goes dark.

My memory cuts out.

I feel... like I've been cut open and ripped apart.

...

_"You will be okay. You will make it through this."_

My mother's voice echoes through my head. She's telling me a lie... _**How can I make it through something like this? I feel robbed. I feel disgusting. I feel like cockroaches are crawling all over me... The darkness had finally caught up to me.**_

_"Not yet."_

I feel my body flowing through the darkness. My mind and heart have stopped. Everything I once had is now gone... _**How can I ever get past this, when I can't get past what drugs did to my family?**_

_"With help,"_ a new voice says... a voice I haven't heard since I left...

***

My eyes shoot open, and I feel like I'm going to be sick. I instantly sit up and cover my mouth as vomit shoots up my throat and tries to force it's way out. Before it can break through, someone pushes a trash can into my lap, and I don't waste a second. I bury my face in the bucket and throw up everything I had in my stomach. I throw up the disgusted feeling boiling in the bottom, but I can still taste it on my lips and feel some of it still resting there, like mold on food that was left untouched for weeks.

_Will that go away... What happened?_

"You feeling better," I hear a familiar voice say from my right. I slowly turn my head to look and am surprised to see that it really is Mike.

Shocked, I look around the room and see white walls, a window, and... And medical machines... With an IV bag hooked up into my arm.

"What am I-"

"We're trying to put the pieces together in order to help you, Evan. I'm going to need you to answer a few questions, and please don't hide anything." I blink, confused, but nod my head. "Can you tell me what the last thing you remember from last night was? What do you remember at all about yesterday? And I'm telling you this right now, just in case. Jonathan will not get in trouble for you two dating or doing anything. You're eighteen now, it's legal."

I nod and look down at my lap as Mike grabs the trash can and puts it down on the floor. "Uh, I woke up at Jon's place, and we talked and had a really late breakfast. When we were done, I had him drop me off at my apartment and I started packing my things, knowing that I was going to get kicked out."

"Why would you say that?"

"There's a rule at the club that only people who work at the club are allowed to stay at the apartments. If we quit or get fired, we are forced to leave. And I was quitting yesterday."

I hear him write down everything I say on a notepad before he says, "And then what happened?"

"I, uh... I went to work, and I went to Panda's office. I told him I was quitting."

"How did he react to that?"

I start digging through my memory as things start to get fuzzy from here, however, it isn't as bad as my memory after this point. "He... He was shocked at first. He... He didn't like that I was leaving. He was pretty much begging me to stay. Then... Then he calmed down and went to his personal bar. He said that if this was what I wanted, then he was happy for me. Then, he poured both of us a drink." My eyes widen as something comes to mind. "I'm not going to get in trouble for saying I drank rum, am I?"

Mike chuckles a bit before he reaches over and pats my shoulder. Without really thinking, my body pulls itself away from Mike's touch, making me start to worry. _Why did I-_

"I promise, you will not get in trouble for drinking alcohol," Mike then says, writing something down in his notes. "Now please, tell me what happened next?"

I look back to him, confused, before I lean back and stare up to the ceiling, trying to piece together anything else from last night. Although this part is still really fuzzy, one point stands out more than anything. "He and I sat on his couch, and we both had one glass of rum. I remember, the rum tasted really weird. I've had it in the past, but it never tasted like this... it was salty... after that, I can't remember anything else."

"Okay," he then says before he reaches over and gently pats my hand. "Now, I'm going to ask you a few questions, and I want you to answer them all honestly. I also want you to stay calm and remember that you're safe now."

I gulp and nod, feeling knots form in my stomach.

"Do you remember leaving the club?"

"No."

"Do you remember going to somebody's house after leaving the club?"

"No; I just said I didn't-"

"Please calm down, Evan. I have to ask these questions."

"But why? What's going on?"

He ignores my questions and asks me, "Do you remember consenting to having sex with someone other than Jonathan yesterday?"

"What?! No! I would never-"

"Evan, please calm down," he says again.

"No! What is going on?! Why do you need to ask me shit like this?! Why am I here?!"

"Evan, calm down. I'll explain everything right now. I just needed to get you to answer these questions first so no one could say that I told you to say anything."

"What are you talking about?"

He opens his mouth to speak, but stops when we hear the door to my room open. We both look and I feel tears build up in my eyes for some reason as Jon steps into the room. He locks his eyes with mine and he slowly covers his mouth before he runs over to me, pushing Mike out of the way so he could wrap his arms tightly around me. Part of me for some reason wants to push him off of me, but the second I feel his tears hit my shoulder, I fight off that feeling as best I can and I try to lean into him without messing with the needles in my arm.

"You guys have perfect timing," Mike then says as he stands up and turns towards the door. "I was just about to tell him what happened, but since you're here, you can explain it."

"Are you fucking kidding me," I hear someone say from the other side of the door. I look and see it open a little bit more and watch Ze walk in... but... no...

"You're a cop?!"

Ze looks my way before he shuts the door behind him, the sunlight bouncing off of the badge on his chest, making it shine. "Sorry Evan. I couldn't have told you."

"Hold up," I say, now pushing Jon away. "What is going on?! If you're a fucking cop, then why were you at the club?! Were you just using me to take down the club or something?! Has everything you told me been a lie?! Have you been faking our fucking friendship?! I swear to god, if you guys shut the club down for the drugs-"

"Ev," Jon says, putting his hand over my mouth. "Please, just calm down and shut up. They will explain everything. Just, let them."

He and I then lock eyes and just stare at each other for a while. Eventually, I nod, telling him that I'll do what he asked, which causes him to remove his hand. I then sit back in my bed and look back towards the two men in blue.

Ze takes a deep breath before he walks up to my bed. "Not everything I told you was a lie. Mike and I are dating and that is a secret. However, it is because we are partners, and have been for a few years now. After losing my first girlfriend and going through a depressive period, I met back up with Mike, who I knew from high school and had a slight crush on. He was in the police academy and was finishing his first year, while I was flunking out of college. He convinced me to go to the academy with him, and well, I loved it. I felt like I fit in well there, and it got Mike and I so close that we ended up dating by the end of my first year. After we both graduated, we were hired by the precinct in our hometown. After a few years there, we wanted to move somewhere else. We requested to stay together as partners due to the fact that we made a great team, and that request was granted. We were sent here and were put in charge of a missing person's and added to a new team for an important project."

"As you know," Mike jumps in. "The missing person's case was yours, but that was mainly to see if a pair of fresh eyes could see something the others missed. We weren't actually expecting to find you. At least, not alive."

"As for the project," Ze takes back over. "It was codenamed "Red Life". This project was to clean-up the nightlife around the city. Before we came in, there was a team of people clearing out the most disgusting pieces of shit for the most horrific shit imaginable and some lesser crimes. However, there was one club that the chief desperately wanted to check in on. That club being the "Big, Bad Panda". However, the chief had been trying to get people in for over a year and had gotten no luck."

"It made no sense why no one was getting in," Mike said, shaking his head. "Or at least, at the time it made no sense. Most of the guys that made up the team were extremely good looking, like myself."

"Watch yourself," Ze quickly replies as he rolls his eyes.

"It made sense afterward though."

Ze then nodded before he continued. "It was a stroke of luck that I somehow got hired in, and as Mike said, I found out why no one else got in. The regulars that came in, the officers, worked at our precinct. We quickly put the pieces together and figured out that they were leaking who was on the team, and since I was still new, they didn't know who I was yet, or that I was part of the team. Because of this, Mike and I had to get an office in our home for us to work out of to keep myself a secret."

"There was quite a bit that we learned about the club from the inside," Mike takes over again, shaking his head as he walks to the foot of my bed. "But the biggest thing that actually helped us was one of your ex-co-workers coming forward and giving us a lot of information."

"Though honestly, we wouldn't have even gone looking for him if it wasn't for you, Evan."

I feel my heart start to slow down when he says this, but I need to know, "Who gave you that information that you needed?"

"Ryan Werker."

My eyes instantly shoot open and I feel my heart start to twist and ache. "Ohm," I whisper, causing Jon to reach over and squeeze my hand.

"There's honestly a lot for you to hear about what's been happening," Mike then says. "But, I think that should wait for another time."

"Why?"

"Because," Ze then says. "We still need to tell you what happened to you last night... I just fucking wish I could have been there sooner."

"Babe-"

"Wait," I say, sitting back up as my blood starts to grow colder. "What are you talking about?" I snap my head towards Jon, who looks away from me as tears start to roll down his cheeks.

"Evan," Mike then says, making me snap my head back towards him and Ze. "Please understand that we tried to get to you as soon as we realized something was wrong. Hell, Steven didn't even let me get in the car before he drove off! I had to get a ride from someone else so I could give him back-up!"

"But what happened?!"

"You were drugged, Evan," Ze then finally says, but it makes my heart stop. "Anthony put Rohypnol in your drink last night."

"Rohe-what?"

"Roofies, Ev," Jon said, causing my heart to shatter as I hear his shaky voice. "You were... you were roofied."

"Rohypnol or roofies are one of the easiest date rape drugs to get," Mike then explains. "It's really dangerous, acts as fast as fifteen minutes, and doesn't really have a taste or smell to it. However, there have been some cases where the victims have described that it made the drink taste different. Some say it tastes bitter, some say it made the drink chalky, while others say it tastes salty."

I feel my heart stop when he says that. _My rum..._

"I tried to get to you as fast as I could, but I didn't know where you were. I fucking went to the apartments first, which fucking," Ze then growls before he turns away from me again, pissed off at himself so clearly that even I'm worried about him. Mike quickly rushes over and tries to calm him down, while Jon finishes what they were saying.

"Ev, don't put the blame on them. They were trying to find you as fast as they could."

"Jon, what happened to me?"

"... That bastard took you to his home and he raped you. By the time Steven and Mike got there, he was already doing whatever he wanted to you."

I start to shake as tears start to build up and fall down my face. Memories flash by me like scenes from a movie that I hadn't seen in so long, but that had affected me so much that they just stuck with me. Memories of Panda... Happy... Happy memor...

I suddenly feel everything in my body start to force it's way up again, and thankfully Jonathan pushes the trash can into my lap, allowing me to throw up in it again. Every memory of him touching me, hugging me, making me undress in front of him or just the fucking idea of myself walking around with him watching me in that uniform suddenly makes me feel disgusted with myself. I trusted him so fucking much. I loved him. I thought of him as family...

After a bit, they take the trash can away and empty it in the toilet while I lay back in my bed and cry. Jon stays by my side, trying to calm me down while Mike and Ze leave to cool off, Ze still being pissed off at himself for "failing to protect me". I honestly don't blame him... I was the one who trusted Anthony enough to share a drink with him... _**I should have left when I had the chance.**_


	53. The Finale

Sleep. That's all I want to do. I just want to sleep... I want to sleep and never wake up...

As I lay in my hospital bed, I try to keep my eyes shut, hoping to be left alone. Hoping for these stupid happy memories would leave me alone... Hoping for something to go wrong so everything would just end. 

All this pain... All these memories... I just want it all to end.

I just want to sleep.

...

If only Jon would let me...

...

If only people stopped visiting me...

...

If only they stopped acting like they cared...

...

If only they didn't talk to Jon about everything...

...

If only... If only I didn't love them so much...

***Two Years Later***

"You've honestly made a lot of progress since you started coming here, Evan," my therapist tells me, causing me to look up at him. Something in my facial expression must have told him that I didn't believe him, which causes him to say, "I'm being serious, you have. You may not feel like it now, but look at where you are now. You have a healthy relationship with a partner that has been there for you after so many years, you finished high school, signed up for college-"

"But that's all because of Jonathan. It's not really me."

"That is not true. Yes, Jonathan is pushing for you to do all of these things, but he is not the one doing any of them. He is there to help you. Not only that, but he isn't the one who is willing to face your past. You are."

"... I just don't want Anthony to try to get out of prison," I say, remembering that letter I got in the mail, talking about how Anthony was trying to appeal his conviction. Which reminds me now that I need to talk to Ze later.

"Have you thought about the other ghosts from your past? The ones we have been speaking about for the past month."

"You mean my parents... You know, I don't even know if they're alive anymore. What if me hearing their voices was them talking to me from the afterlife or some paranormal bullshit. Hell, I don't even know if they are even still in that house!"

"And you never will know until you look." I look away from him and bite my lip, nervously, and starting to tap my foot as I gently start to tap on my knee with my fist. A bad habit I picked up a while ago, but it at least lets people see how nervous I am now... For now, that may be a good thing, but later, I know I'm going to need to fight this off.

"Evan," he says, making me look over to him. "I know that you are nervous to see what has happened to them and nervous to see how they will react to your past and Jonathan, but if you never put in the effort to try to see them again, you will never know how they are or how they will react."

I sigh and look away again. "I know." 

"When you first came here, you told me that this was something that you wanted to do. That you always saw yourself doing and that you had planned to do the second you walked out that front door... Have you changed your mind about that, or is this just from your fear?"

My eyes travel up to the wall and I stand up when I see that the hour is up. My therapist looked up to the clock and sighs before he does the same. He then walks me out to the payment area as he reassures me that I am again better. After paying for the hour, I walk out to the waiting area, where Jonathan is still sitting, playing on his phone. I smile a little and quietly walk over to him, leaning over and kissing him on the cheek to get his attention. He jumps a little from shock, but he rolls his eyes and stands up, kissing my forehead before he starts to walk me out of the office.

We talk about how my session went as we walk out of the building, stepping into the busy downtown streets. Normally we would walk to the parking garage to just get in Jon's truck and leave, but today is a special day. We were going to meet up with a few friends for lunch, and it was honestly something I've been looking forward to.

As we walk down the street, cars pass us so fast that all we can feel is the wind each of them creates. When we are less than a block away from the restaurant, we notice a Lamborghini pass us and quickly stop just a few feet ahead of us, the tires practically screaming as the driver slams on the brakes. I let out a loud groan when I see this, realizing the car that is now in our way to what was going to be an amazing time with my oldest friends.

When we walk up to the car, my worst fears roll downs the window and sticks it's annoying blond hair out of it as it starts to hold up traffic. "Well, well, well, look at what the whore dragged in," Jake yells so loudly that the people in the next city could hear him. 

Jake is a guy from Jon's college. He's only a second year, but his money makes him think he's untouchable. Unfortunately, someone from Jon's school found out about me and my past, which made Jon the butt of all jokes. Jake was one of many assholes that seemed to get off on talking about how much of a whore I apparently am, which has quickly become annoying and borderline harassment at this point. "Hey, Jon; how much can I get your boyfriend for an hour? Around the world."

"You can get him for the low cost of my foot up your ass and your face under your car!"

"Oh come on, man. You know it's only a matter of time before he starts walking the streets. You're better off getting some money out of him before he leaves you for the pole."

"I fucking swear to-" he growls before he takes a step towards the car, which Jake starts moving forward a bit to keep him away. I could see how quickly Jonathan was starting to get heated, so I quickly grab his arm and hold him back.

"He isn't worth the jail time," I whisper to him before I get him a small peck on his shoulder to try to get him to relax a bit.

I then look towards the car as Jake opens the driver side door and sticks his body out, popping his head over his car as it starts rolling towards the intersection. "Hey, Vanoss! Whenever you're ready to jump back on the pole again, just let me know. I have a big meaty pole with your name written all over it for you to take a spin on!"

I scrunch up my nose in disgust as I tighten my hold on Jon's arm to keep him from trying to chase off this fucker. We then watch as he jumps back into his car and slams on the gas, speeding up to get through the intersection, which I just noticed was red for him. Before I could even blink, I hear a loud screeching of tires as a truck tries to stop before hitting Jake. Keyword being "tries".

I cover my mouth in shock and horror as I see the accident happen so fast that my heart literally drops out of my ass. I mean, the guy was annoying, but this isn't what I had hoped would happen to him. I was hoping for something like, maybe him getting kicked out of school...

I'm snapped back to reality as Jon pulls my arm and drags me the opposite way of the accident, saying that we don't need to see that. I agree, and he and I take a much longer route to get to the restaurant than what we would have liked. However, the second I walk in and see everyone by the bar, the thought of what we had just witnessed slipped my mind as I happily run over to hug everyone.

I start with Ohm and Luke, who are in the middle of a conversation about what they were planning for their wedding since they have officially gotten engaged a few days ago. The second I wrap my arms around Ohm, he holds me so closely that we might get confused as the couple to be, however, I couldn't really care. Even after reuniting when I was in the hospital, every second we are away from each other feels like forever for us. Those few months of not being about to talk or see each other were harder on me than words could describe, but knowing that he also had a hand in saving me made me see just how much he cared about me.

After I pull away from him, I hug Luke. Apparently, Luke and Ohm met each other again shortly after Ohm left the club when he had managed to get a job as a mechanic shop. If it wasn't for him, Ohm and I probably would have lost each other forever, which I'm so thankful didn't happen. Seeing them together now is adorable, and gives me a reason to push for marriage now with Jon, which he isn't too happy about. But, hey, I can't wait forever.

After hugging and saying hi to Ohm and Luke, I turn my attention to the couple they were talking to, Ze and Mike. After taking down Panda, the two had not slowed down with their work, yet they put in the effort to make sure that we never lost connect after they had to move on. A few months after starting a new case, their relationship was leaked to the chief, but he agreed to have them stay partners due to how well they were working together. Fast forward a year, and suddenly they were engaged as well. In fact, their wedding was just a few weeks ago, and I think I interrupted a conversation about a wedding planner or something. I can't be too sure.

After hugging the newlywed couple, I turn to the last person who beat us here, Tyler. When the club was shut down, Tyler made a deal to turn on Panda for immunity. Well, him and one other person. With their help, getting Panda locked away was pretty easy, even without my help.

Since the club shut down, Tyler decided to focus more on school, which was made easy thanks to the money he had saved up to pay his way through college, as well as working to get a couple of scholarships to help out along the way. He's pretty much kept his head down and just focused on school and his group of friends, including us, but I always noticed that he had seemed a bit lonely. So, after two minutes of talking to him, you could only imagine how happy I am to hear that he is finally opening up to jumping back into the dating pool.

_He deserves to be happy, so I'm honestly hoping for the best. I'm sure Mini would want him to be happy._

The seven of us take our seats at the bar and start getting a little louder as we start talking about random things that have been happening or what will happen. The topic of Panda's admit to getting out of prison quickly become a main point of interest.

"There's no fucking way that fucker is getting out," Tyler loudly say before he takes a drink of his beer.

"I don't even get why he's trying," Ohm adds in, shaking his head. "I mean, it's his word against four ex-employees and an undercover cop. How the fuck does he think he could weasel his way out?"

"You'd be surprised," Mike tells us as he grabs his glass. "We've seen some pretty impossible shit happened in court."

"But that doesn't mean we're not going to fight to keep his ass in there," Ze then says with a smirk on his face.

Hearing Ze say that causes me to smile and look back to Jon, who's sitting next to Luke and talking about something completely different. I don't really mind this. Since I got out of the hospital, we kind of have become introverted, so I like seeing him have fun with one of his best friends.

A few minutes past before we hear the ringing from the bell above the door to the restaurant, causing us to turn around to see who walked in. My smile grows larger as I see two people walk in, hand in hand. Jumping from my seat, I run to the front of the restaurant and wrap my arms around Brock, who laughs and lets go of his daughter's hand to hug me back.

Once we let go of each other, I kneel down and smile at the beautiful little girl with bouncing black hair with a light pink bow in the back. She smiles back at me before she gives me a hug, her pink and yellow sundress bouncing with her as she jumps into my arms, yelling, "Uncle Evan!"

I laugh as I tightly wrap my arms around her and pick her up. I can see why Brock put himself through hell and back to get her.

After Panda's lawyer started working on Brock's case to get his daughter back, he managed to play just as dirty as his ex's lawyers did, pulling up a lot of things Lauren did that she never wanted anyone to see. Including a warrant from when she was eighteen. Well, that was more thanks to the help of two cops that wanted to say thank you for giving them more ammo to take down Panda. 

Either way, Brock finally got what he wanted. He now has full custody of his daughter, and we have a beautiful little niece to love.

I guess this could all be a happy ending... but there's something that I need to do first.

After having lunch with the guys, Jon and I go back to the apartment for the night and discuss what the plan will be for tomorrow. Afterward, we do what we normally do, having dinner and working on our homework together before going to bed. The next morning, we have breakfast together and jump into his truck, taking a two and a half hour long drive to the next city... My hometown.

My heart beats harder and faster as I tell Jon where to go, only to stop in front of a house that looks like a distant dream... My old house... But it's different from how I left it.

When I left, my parents stopped caring about everything, including taking care of the house itself and the yard. The grass was far passed overgrown, there were weeds everywhere, and the paint on the house was chipped and the roof needed to be fixed. But the house we're in front of... it's beautiful. Yard freshly cut, two beds of flowers leading from the sidewalk up to the front door before spitting off and lining across the yard just in front of the house, and the house itself looked perfect.

"... Someone else must own the house," I tell Jon as I stare at it. 

"You know we're not leaving until you at least go up to ring the doorbell, right."

"I don't want to bother the family that owns it now."

"Evan, we talked about this yesterday. You begged me to make sure that you did this today."

I drop my eyes down to my lap and sigh, knowing that he's right. I talked about wanting to come back here for years, but now the idea scared me so much. The idea of them being gone. The idea of them still using. The idea of them not caring anymore... It was all so much for me... But as my therapist said, I'll never know what changed if I don't come to see it for myself. He told me to do this when I thought I would be ready and when I thought I would be ready to move on from my past, and I'm ready... At least, I hope I am...

Taking a deep breath, I push open the car door and step out. I shut the door behind me and walk up the path leading to the house. _I'll just knock on the door, find out what happened from whoever owns this house now, and leave._ I take another deep breath and knock loudly on the door and wait for whoever was inside to open. My heart continues to beat heavily in my chest as I wait, and my nerves quickly start to get to me.

A minute passes and I let out a gasp, not realizing until now that I was holding my breath, but giving up as I start to think that no one was even home at this point. With that in mind, I turn away and start walking back to the truck, but just as I'm about two feet away from the door, I hear the lock turn from the other side, causing me to stop and turn my body slightly so I can look back to the door.

I watch as the door slowly opens and I see someone look out from the small crack between the doorframe and the door itself, and watch as the eye widens and the door swings open. My heart then drops to my stomach before I turn completely around to face... a ghost.

In front of me, I see a man with thick black hair, a somewhat thin face, scars along his arms and face, but... he still looked like my dad from before he started his addiction.

"Evan... Is that really you," he asks, his voice sounding so much kinder than I could ever remember. He looks like the photo I kept for so long. He looks clean. He looks... He looks like the man I was proud and happy to call my dad so long ago.

"Dad," I ask, hoping and pray that this is real.

The second I say that one word, he runs out of the house and wraps his arms tightly around me, holding me so close and so tightly that I could feel the air getting knocked out of me, but I didn't care. I wrap my arms around him back and shut my eyes, so thankful to see him better.

My eyes quickly shoot open as I then hear something... He's crying into my shoulder.

I pull away from him and see real tears running down his face as he looks me up and down. "Oh my god. I just... I can't believe it's really you. My baby boy."

"Are you really crying?"

"Of course. You have no idea how much I've missed you, Evan." He wraps his arms around me again, hugging me tightly and petting my head. "I've missed you more than anything. I am so sorry for what your mother and I put you through all those years ago."

At the mention of my mom, I push him away and look into his eyes. "Where's mom?"

When I ask this, he looks away from me, shame shading his face. "I was such an idiot," he then says, shaking his head. "I never should have dragged your mother into my addiction. I never should have put you two through any of the bullshit I put you two through."

"Dad, where's mom?"

He turns his head back towards me but keeps his eyes on the ground. "After you ran away from home, your mother tried to get clean. She wanted to get clean for you, so she could find you and be there for you. But she was such a foolish woman... because she still loved me. She stayed with me, and that... that cost her her life."

When he says this, my eyes widen and I feel the air get ripped from my lungs. "Mom's dead?"

He then nods and looks back to me. "I was such an idiot. Even if I didn't have my job anymore, I had a beautiful wife and a wonderful son with so much life ahead of him... and I didn't see it until it was gone. After your mother past, her family came and took her away from me, burying her in their family plot, and forbidding me from ever visiting her. After that, I was more or less forced to get clean at first. I was broke, no way of getting what I wanted, and alone... One day, I went into your room to see if there was something you left that I could have sold, and I was forced to face all of those pictures that you kept in there. All around me were pictures of the three of us, all happy... Then it really hit me that I was all alone. I lost everything. All for a drug.  
Once that hit me, I knew I needed to fix everything. I finally went to rehab and got clean, they helped me get a job, I fixed up the house, and I've been trying to get your grandparents to let me see my wife. Just one time, so I could apologize for all the wrongs I caused. While I've been working on that, I also went to try to find out if there was anything on where you were. I wanted to see you again. I needed to know that I didn't lose my son forever as well. I needed to know how badly my stupid choices destroyed the wonderful life that I once had. But all I found out was that you were gone, and the police weren't really looking because they thought you were better off lost than with your mother and I... Not that I blame them... I was such a horrible father.  
I remember all of the horrible things I did and said to you. All the abuse I put you through... I honestly thought, if you were even still alive, you were truly better off without me. And by the looks of it, I was right. You have grown into such a handsome young man. Better than what you would have gotten if you stayed with your mother and me."

I then see him look over to the truck and he raises an eyebrow. "Is there your friend in the truck?"

I bite my lip and look away. "That's actually my boyfriend."

"Boyfriend? You're gay?" I nod and look back up to him. He chuckles a bit before he says, "That's wonderful, Evan. I even more proud to know that you are with someone you love."

I smile when he says that, but look away, still trying to process everything that I've just learned in the last minute. "Evan, I know that what I did to you was unforgivable, but I want you to know that I've been trying to better my life because of you. I love you so much, and if you would give me the chance, I would like another chance to be in your life. I would like another chance to be there for you as your father. And even if you don't want to give me that, I would like the chance to at least know what happened to you after you left and where you will be going from here. I want to know my son again."

I shake my head, "Dad. I don't blame you for what happened when I was younger. I know that all of those things you did were because of her-"

"Evan, don't you dare say that," he says loudly, causing me to stop and look up at him. "Don't you dare push the blame onto the drug! Yes, the drug changed me, but I was the one who chose to put that shit in me! I was the one who chose to use! I was the one... I was the idiot that picked that stupid drug over my family. So don't think that it was all that drugs fault for what happened to you because it wasn't the drug! It was me! I was the one who hurt you, and I am so sorry for all of that!"

I blink before I wrap my arms around him and start crying myself. I never wanted to blame him for any of that... I don't want to... but I know that I can't keep blaming that drug for everything... "I forgive you! You got better, and that's all that matters, dad! I missed you so much!"

He wraps his arms around me and holds me close as we both cry, letting out all of the pain we had both held in for so long. After several minutes, he and I calm down and he asks me to stay for a while, telling me he wants to get to know the man that I've become, and he asks me to bring Jon into the house with us. I agree and watch as he walks into the house, leaving the door open for us before I walk to the car and open the passenger side door to talk to Jon.

"So, wrong address," he jokes, making me roll my eyes.

"Yeah, but this guy is really nice. Come on, he wants to meet you."

"You told him I'm a guy, right?"

"No, he thinks you're a watermelon named Martha."

He laughs before he kills his engine. "Alright. And you're sure you're okay with all of this?"

"It's a little late to ask me that, babe... but yes, I am. Come on, I want you to meet my dad."

He steps out of the truck and locks the doors before he walks around and takes my hand. We then walk into the house and I take a good look at the inside. I can see where my dad had tried to fix the holes in the walls that he would make whenever he was pissed, but aside from that, the house looks completely different. Part of me fights over whether this is a good thing or a bad thing, but what screams that this is better in my head are the pictures that I see covering the walls... They're all of the family and me. Almost all of the pictures that I had kept in my room for safekeeping were now hanging on the wall. Pictures of me as a baby up to the age of ten are everywhere. Some of them... are stained with tears...

"I hope you don't mind bottled water," we hear my dad say as he walks out from the kitchen to join us in the living room. "It's all I have at the moment."

"No, it's no problem, dad," I happily say as I take two bottles from him and hand one to Jon. Jon then reaches over me and shakes my dad's hand and introduces himself to him.

The three of us then take a seat, Jon and me on the couch while my dad sits in a recliner that I know my mom would have hated having in the house. "So, how long have you two been together?"

"About three years now," Jon answers before he looks at me to make sure that he got the answer right.

"Three years this year," I then say, nodding my head to let him know he got it right.

"Wow," my dad then says. "So you would also know what had happened to him when he left?"

"Well, to be fair, he made a pretty big life for himself before he actually met me. I just helped him fix some parts of it."

"More like you put me on the right path and made it better than it would have been without you."

"How so," my dad then asks me, which starts to make me nervous.

"Well, it's a long story, dad... and I made a lot of mistakes after I left."

"Evan, there is nothing you could have done that would be as big as a mistake as what I did. And I don't care if it takes you a year to tell me this long story, because I will be more than happy to sit here and listen to it. It's your story, Evan. It's what made you the man that you are today."

I smile and look over to Jon, who pats me on my leg, letting me know that it will all be okay. I then take a deep breath and start at the very beginning. The day I wake up from a nightmare in school...

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**The En-ddd...**

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*Panda's POV*

I groan as I hear that annoyingly loud cart getting pushed down the halls of the cellblock, squeaking the entire way down as a guard calls out who in each cell has something. Rolling onto my side, I try to shut my eyes to get a nap in since the new guy was whining all night about how he didn't belong here. However, when the cart comes up to my cell, I'm honestly surprised to hear the guard call out my name, telling me that someone sent me something.

Groaning and popping my back from laying on this stupidly, annoyingly, hard bed, I get up and walk over to the cell doors. There, the guard hands me a yellow envelope, which has two addresses on it. One for the jail, and the other... To my attorney's office?

Taking the envelope, I walk over to my bed and sit down, using my finger to cut it open and I pull out what's inside. I can't help but smile at what it is exactly that I find.

Pages and pages of notes, all telling me what the prospection is planning to use against me, which my lawyer had already written on, telling me how he plans to combat each and every point. Under the pages of notes, I see an invoice for my lawyer with a note on it, saying that everything has already been paid for.

All of this may make me smile, but the last thing in the envelope really get me excited. A little picture of my favorite ex-employee, posing in a sexy little costume, just for me.

_I knew you would come back around for me, baby. You just needed time. Time to realize that life is so boring out of the spotlight. But don't worry, baby. As soon as I get out of here, I'll make sure the club is just as amazing as it was before... And I'll make sure Evan doesn't say no this time._

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**The End?**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _**I hope you all enjoyed this story. It honestly amazes me how many people have actually come back each week to actually read every update! But now, it's time to end this and move on... Possibly just for now.** _
> 
> _**Yes, I do kind of want to write a sequel for this, however, that's going to be in the planning stages for a while.** _
> 
> _**So, I'm going to take a quick moment to promote my other stories and then announce my next big project! If you don't want to read this, you can stop here, I hope you all have a wonderful day!** _
> 
> _**For those of you who are still reading this, thank you!** _
> 
> _**Okay, if you Lovely Foxes are fans of Ohmlirious/h2Ohm, I have a few books that you Foxes would love to check out. A few are one-shot books while a few are just full on stories. If you want something dark, well, keep an eye open on my profile, because this summer, I'm releasing my newest book, and this one aims for more fucked up than anything. This one will be a fucked up story inspired by the Saw franchise and the Danganronpa series, and will be focusing on a poly relationship between Ohm, Delirious, and Vanoss. So, if you are interested, come check out the story I plan to release in May 2019.** _
> 
> _**Anyways, that's all I have to say for now. I hope you guys enjoyed the story. Please subscribe and become a member of the Fox Family! I love you all! Thank you again for reading this long ass message and reading this story! I'll see all you Lovely Foxes in another story! Bye!** _


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